A Black Legacy
by xxallisonxx
Summary: If you read fanfictions from HPFF, you should've read this already. If not, this is Narcissa's POV. Rated M for later chapters. None of these charactrs are mine but to the fabulous JK Rowling.
1. Hold your head high, gorgeous

"Two more days until she leaves. Time goes by so quickly when your last daughter goes off for her first year of Hogwarts", Druella sighed. She had recently made a bad habit of talking to herself since preparing for Narcissa to leave for her first year of Hogwarts. Narcissa had been gone with Bellatrix and Andromeda constantly since she had received her Hogwarts letter five days ago. She knew Narcissa would be exemplary while at Hogwarts. Out of all of the sisters, Narcissa was, by far, the most discreet. Bellatrix was too frank on what she thought and wouldn't hold back for anyone. Andromeda hardly ever attended formal events or conversed with anyone who had reached the certain criteria a Black family used to judge who they could befriend. She hardly acted like a black, but preferred to be rebellious instead. Narcissa was the quiet one who conversed with the right people. Druella had hoped that Narcissa would be the discreet one, which is why she had named her after a flower, and not a star like her sisters. Narcissa also had a startling difference in characteristics from her sisters. Unlike her sisters, Narcissa was very light toned and had almost white blond hair. If not for the similarities in eye features, you wouldn't be able to tell they were even sisters. All three of the sisters have big, beautiful eyes. They're eyes were unmistakable.

"We're back, mother", I proclaimed proudly as I lightly walked through the foyer.

"Did you get all the books off of your list?" Druella melancholy inquired.

"All but one, called The History of Muggles, which doesn't exactly bother me", I mused.

Druella scoffed at even the idea of one of her beautiful pure-blood daughters purchasing such a horrid book. No Black had even thought about taking The History of Muggles course. They had no intentions of ever wanting to learn about such dull creatures.

"That's fine. What else do you have to get before you leave?" Druella pried.

"Not much, just a few spare quills and I have to get my robes fitted. Miss Prewitt said I could come by any time. She said to give her apologies that she couldn't congratulate father on his newest discovery in person", I droned.

"I expected that. She hardly comes by anymore. She spends all of her time in that grime-covered store of hers. I'm not even sure what ties link her and your father, but I'll find out eventually… or else", Druella said almost threateningly.

"They went to Hogwarts together, remember?" I primly reminded.

"Oh, that's right, until she got expelled from Hogwarts for "harassing" the filthy muggleborns", Druella reminisced. "Good times we all had. She was expelled so early in her education I almost forgot that she even attended".

I signed in a tone that was very familiar to Bellatrix's when she had to sit through a lecture on practicing illegal magic on muggles. That was a very common activity for Bellatrix, especially when accompanied by "the elite". "The elite" are a group of purebloods who's family trees, according to them, has been perfectly trimmed so that no extra "unworthy" purebloods stayed in the family. Bellatrix was a member and I expected I would be one, too.

While packing for my train ride to Hogwarts that afternoon, Bellatrix and Andromeda came in and gave her a ribbon-wrapped green box.

"What's this?" I asked with curiosity while fingering the box's edges with interest.

"It's a gift for you starting Hogwarts," Bellatrix answered angelically, her face glowing. This was odd behavior for Bellatrix.

When I opened the box, a gold necklace with a rather long serpent charm was gleaming, as if it knew it was special.

"Bella, Andy, thank you so much! It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, overwhelmed with gratitude.  
"Well, put it on," Andromeda encouraged.

I took the necklace and walked over to my vanity. As I put it around my neck, the eyes glowed an almost blood-red color and released a small burst of fire. Some of the fire brushed against my skin, but it was surprisingly cool, almost like ice.

"You like it?" Andromeda asked with curiosity.

"Of course! It's gorgeous, thank you Bella, Andy!" I exclaimed with affection.

"Good, now we need to go if we want to make the train", Bellatrix reminded.

Soon after, they apparated to the train station, a power that Blacks master by ten years of age. They had made it on time. Bellatrix and Andromeda soon met up with their school friends, which left Narcissa to finally officially meet the Slytherin Elite. According to Bellatrix, the Slytherin Elite was a group of only the most wealthy and well-known pure-blood families. All, of course, were in Slytherin. It was then that I remembered that Andromeda was sorted into Ravenclaw, not becoming part of the Slytherin Elite, although she showed no signs of disappointment.

"Who is this?" a boy, looking like he was in about his seventh year.

"This is my little sister, Narcissa, Rosier", Bellatrix answered in a dangerous tone.

"She looks nothing like you or Andromeda", the boy addressed mainly to Bellatrix.

"And? Is there a problem?" she asked him in a haughty voice.

"Isn't Narcissa the origin of a flower?" a light hair boy asked with caution.

"Yes, it is. So?" I answered with hesitation.

"Well, aren't Blacks always names after stars?" he asked, mystery in his eyes.

"Yes, usually", I answered, on the edge of losing her temper, for she had been asked this particular question too many times, it could bring a person to insanity.

"Well, what's wrong with you then?" he asked with a smirk.

"There's nothing wrong with me. Even a star burns out in time. A flower continues to bloom and ages with beauty and grace", I corrected him with pride and a smirk of my own.

"Oh, good, we're here", a beautiful dark-skinned seventh year said with relief. She looked as if she was about to pass out with all the tension in the cart.


	2. I'm the girl who hides her pain

As they entered through the 2-story mahogany doors, they were separated by year, into different groups, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The first years were sent to wait in the foyer while their older classmates were sent to sit and wait for the festivities to begin. As any year at Hogwarts starts out, the students who have already been classified into their house get to sit and watch their new classmates get sorted into their new house.

I sat next to a fellow pure-blood while I waited for my name to be called and find out my destiny for the next seven years. I did not want to turn out like Andy, and be sorted into Ravenclaw. I knew if I wasn't sorted into Slytherin, my life would be turned into a living hell, then I would have to deal with my parents after Bella was done with her. I HAD to be sorted into Slytherin, my life depended on it.

"Alethia Bason, Alethia Bason, come up to be sorted," Professor McGonagall announced, snatching me from my thoughts. I was definitely next. My heart was thumping so hard against my chest, I was almost certain it would rupture straight out my, now shaking and pale, body.

"HUFFLEPUFF!", the sorting hat proclaimed. The Hufflepuff table cheered for their newest member.

"Narcissa Black, Narcissa Black, come to be sorted," Professor McGonagall warily announced. That name got quite a few people's attention. I was feeling more pressured than ever before to live up to my family's specific expectations.

Taking my time, I stood and gracefully walked over to the old rugged sorting hat and sat upon the stool. This moment could change my life forever, for better or worse. I tried to think as Slytherin-like as possible without showing, on the outside, that I was trying too hard. I held my breath and waited for the results of my effort.

To everyone's surprise, the sorting hat just chuckled, which turned into full blast hysteria. Everyone, including the teachers, looked towards the headmaster for an explanation, though he was at a loss for words. After a few awkward moments of silence, the hat finally spoke.

"What is this, another Black? She has absolutely no characteristics of either of her sisters. She is as interesting as anyone could ever possibly contemplate. It is humorous to even have to put her before me to decide. Anyone could look at her and know that this girl is a Slytherin," the hat gleefully proclaimed.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief as I took my rightful place beside Bella and Rodolphus.

"Well, what an entrance," Rodolphus complimented, still in shock.

"See, I told you, you had nothing to worry about, even the sorting hat said so," Bellatrix gleamed with pride.

They went through the rest of the evening as if nothing had interrupted their life. After dinner, they all retired to their houses. The Slytherin girls helped me settle in, all trying to stay on my good side. Since this was Bellatrix's last year at Hogwarts, they wondered who was going to be Slytherin's queen next year and if I would approve of the girl, if by some miraculous chance I,myself, wasn't the next queen.

The next morning, I awoke, late, to rain. Today was not a good day for people with herbology. It was my last class so I hoped that this dreadful weather would clear up before the end of the day. I got dressed and walked down to breakfast, the sound of my heels clicking in the barren hallway. I could hear the sound of eager voices and cursed myself for being late.

When the door opened itself, I walked in, head held high, as though there was nothing wrong with entering breakfast late and stealing away everybody's attention. I almost enjoyed the attention of everyone's curious stares. Eventually, after passing many tables full gawking stares, I found my group of pure-bloods and sat next to Aaron Peitho.

"If you were wondering where Bellatrix is, I saw her walking towards a broom closet with some Slytherin," Aaron said scornfully.  
"I did not ask because I already know of her secret little affairs she has. I may not approve but I am not blind to the fact that she does these things," I replied with a touch of humor.

Just as that was being said, Bellatrix walked in with an extremely handsome Slytherin, slightly ruffled and sat down next to me.

"So, what are we talking about that is so funny?" Bellatrix asked, hardly interested.

"Oh, nothing. Just trying to guess who you were so "busy" with in the broom closet, today. Though, you just answered that for us. Aaron, the great mystery is over, she was with him," I said with sarcasm as I nonchalantly pointed to the handsome brunette at the end of the table, snatching his attention away from another group of pure-blood boys to see if he, indeed, was the topic of their conversation .

"Oh, _haha_. Well at least I have a relationship," she said slightly irritated.

"RELATIONSHIP?", I fumed. Most everyone in the hall glanced over to see what the ruckus was about. I continued,very aware of the disturbed stares and glances of surrounding tables," A relationship is two people who care for each other! They don't just have sex in a broom closet before breakfast".

"Please try to be at least a little discreet, would you?" Bellatrix pleaded through gritted teeth.

"Do I look like the kind of person who cares if other people listen in on a conversation when they should be minding their own bloody business," I said in a softer tone, directing it mostly at the, now slightly harassed-looking, surrounding tables.

Lucius Malfoy had been listening as he sat across from Bellatrix. He interrupted," I think you _are_ the kind of person who cares what people think of you"

"Well, no one asked you," I shot back with my temper, once again, rising.

"Why is it, if I may ask, that you have such a problem with Bellatrix's "sleeping around" if it does not affect you?"

Bellatrix and I looked at him dumb-founded. Just as Bellatrix was about to curse him (and probably the rest of his family), it was time to leave and go off to our classes. I said my good-byes to Bellatrix and walked to Ancient Runes with Aaron, acting as my lap dog, walking beside her, trying to keep up me, as I was still fuming from breakfast.

Just as I was about to turn the last corner to Ancient Runes, Lucius pulled me into an empty classroom.

"What are you doing?", I said in awe, and outrage.

"Why did you get so upset when Bellatrix called her routine trips to a broom closet a relationship?"

"Why do you care?" I questioned him, my brows simultaneously raising themselves, out of habit.

"One, because you lashed out at your sister and two, you're supposed to be the quiet one from what I've heard," he countered in a haughty tone.

"What have you heard about me?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Enough, but this was completely out of character… from what I've heard," he answered, becoming slightly aware of his surroundings.

"But why do you care?" I asked, irritating him purposely.  
Things got quiet as Aaron walked in. He stopped dead in his tracks, trying to evaluate the situation. He couldn't decide if he should leave or talk. By his facial features, I could only imagine what the imaginary cogs in his head were trying to decide.

"Should I go?" he asked awkwardly.

"No, I was just leaving. And Lucius, if we ever become close friends, you'll probably find out. But until then, go to class and forget about it," I said, almost as an order.

The rest of the day went by so quickly I almost got whiplash. I was walking back to the common room, by myself, when out of nowhere a hand grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me into the girls' bathroom. When I stood back to see who, once again, had taken me from my original pace, I was a little confused. I was staring straight into the face of Arce Percival.

"What-", I started, shaking with rage.

"Don't talk now, just listen, then answer my questions," Arce said forcefully. She did _not_ look like she was here to play games.

"What ties to you have to the Malfoy family?" she asked, pride gleaming in her eyes.

"What kind of question is that? What do you mean what ties do I have? We meet at parties, etc… Why do you care? Aren't you in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?" I asked, slightly bemused.

"No, I happen to be Slytherin, as you are, or I would not be talking to you. Most people, including some Slytherins, are a tad frightened of you. It probably has something to do with what the sorting hat said last night," smirked Arce.

"Oh, that's nice. That's just bloody brilliant! My first day here and people are scared of me, wouldn't mother be proud," I said to myself.

"Oh, I think she already knows," Arce said seriously.

"How could she possibly know what's happened, it's only been a day," I countered.

"You don't read The Daily Prophet do you?" Arce asked as though I had just asked how to perform a simple levitating charm.

"No, I don't make it a daily habit, my mother is the one who usually reads it. She is the only one in our family who likes to read about the recent gossip."

"Well, I suggest you read it," she said haughtily.

She handed me the latest Daily Prophet and ran out of the bathroom as if it was infested with Cornish pixies -again. I read the headline first in my head, then again out loud.

"Latest Black to Follow in Footsteps," I said, frazzled.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm guessing it means that they think you act like Bella," Rodolphus answered, amusing himself.

I jumped at the sound of someone else's voice.

"I didn't realize that you were a girl today, I was under the impression that you were a man, according to what Bella says about you and her rendezvous, but I always had my doubts," I joked dryly," why are you in here? Aren't you afraid that someone, probably a girl, is going to come in and see you?".

"If they do, what would it matter to me? Public image isn't the most important item on my list of things to remember, nor Bella's, as you can probably tell from this morning," he said nonchalantly.

"Well, it should be. Lately, it's what you look like that makes or breaks the public's opinion of you, and certain people care," I said seriously.  
"Well, then it's a good thing I don't give a damn, now isn't it?" he said with great humor.

"Ah, I almost forgot how amazing your way with words was. Anyways, I have to go, homework to do, I actually do mine," I said with a haughty smirk.

"Well, good-bye then, tell Bella I said to leave at seven," he said with a giddy grin.

I closed my eyes, trying not to picture what he meant," I don't want to know," I said with a tired expression on my pale face. I walked out of the bathroom, hoping not to pulled into any other place than the common room.

I finally reached the common room and sat down on the common room's most comfortable chair to start my homework. I had to finish potions first, it was the most important. I definitely did not want Professor Slughorn to think I was lazy. Professor Slughorn knew both of my parents quite well. They were star students during their days at Hogwarts.

"Cissy, did you happen to run into Rodolphus on your way back?" Bella interrupted, stirring me from my thoughts.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Yes, he did. He said to meet him at seven. Don't tell me what for, I have a pretty fond idea of what he meant," I said as I put away my books for the night.

_May Salazar Slytherin have mercy on their souls if they get caught._


	3. Stand there in your wrongness!

"This semester has been ultimately . . . _tiring_. It wasn't near as wonderful as Andy and Bella said it would be, but they never got along perfectly with our parents," I vented ,"The only time anything was even remotely amusing was when people would scurry around preparing for the upcoming quidditch try outs. No one was turning in homework and most everyone's grades were plummeting, giving the headmaster no choice but to postpone try outs until after Christmas break."

Aneira was listening intently while she scanned the ballroom for any suitors worthy of her parents' standards, pure-blood, rich, and powerful, same as my intended standards. Aneira looked just as her Welsh-originated name described. Her skin was bronzed to perfection, as though she glowed golden from within her perfectly sculpted face.

"Are you going to try out for quidditch?" Aneira asked half-heartedly. She continued to absentmindedly toy with the chipping wood of the leg of the archaic chaise.

I pondered on this for a while. The mere thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Quidditch had always been played by boys ,and none of the girls in Slytherin had tried to even understand why. When I thought about it, why couldn't girls play quidditch. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and even _Gryffindor _had female players on _their _teams.

"Now that I've actually thought about it, why not? I don't think I've ever seen a girl on Slytherin team. I'll mention it to Bella, maybe she'll try out, too." I replied, snapping out of my introspection of the entire vexing thoughts.

"What position?" she asked, now slightly interested, though part of her looked like it was somewhere completely different; probably with a rather raunchy-looking dirty blonde man across the room.

"I hadn't really thought about what position," I admitted, never losing my posture. Apparently listening in on our every word, Rodolphus and his group of friends sauntered over until they were standing directly in front of us. I wasn't sure if they were trying to purposely intimidate us or if they had just had too much to drink that night. Whatever they were trying to do to us, it wasn't working. Just as I thought that they were going to move on to another group of girls, Rodolphus opened his mouth and started talking, although some words sounded strained as though he was trying not to slur them all together.

"What's all of this vulgar conversation of positions?" he asked jokingly, which apparently seemed to make his gaggle of friends erupt with laughter, some even wiping tears from their cold, black, beady eyes.

" Once again, your _obscene _thoughts have overcome your good judgment. What do you think we were talking about, _Rod_?" I asked him, half my mind wondering just how his mind works, the other half scared to even _contemplate _what goes on up there.

"Well, _Cissa_, I thought you were inferring to what Bella and I do in our spare time," he retorted imperviously. I cringed as an image of his and Bella's bodies intertwined themselves around each other.

"Oh, yes, thank you for that repugnant mental image," I sneered.

"Anything to help," he retorted sarcastically. His "friends" seemed to have no right mind of their own; they mindlessly howled in laughter at every ungodly word that came out of his obnoxious mouth. Tears trickling down their plump faces, encouraging Rodolphus to want to say more repulsive words against Aneira and me.

"Rodolphus, please go away ,now," Aneira seemed to plead. I wasn't used to hearing people beg; it showed signs that you were the weaker person, which Rodolphus obviously knew, with him preparing to be a death eater, and all.

"Now why would I do that when you two alluring ladies are such fine company," he jested sarcastically.

"Well, I figured you would want to go and find Bella to go and do god-knows-what in some desultory broom closet. That's all you seem to do now-a-days," I countered with the renowned Black smirk. I could already start to see an ill-colored pink tint sweep across his pale cheeks. Had Bellatrix not tried to train me as though I were a death eater, I wouldn't have even noticed ;and apparently, no one around us, including Rodolphus's doltish followers, had noticed Rodolphus's flush. By the look in Rodolphus's black eyes, he knew I saw it, the smallest sliver of a moment when he showed he actually had emotions, something a death eater was _never _allowed to show, at _any _time. I opened my mouth as though I was about to say something, but before I could, Bella sauntered over and took my arm to drag me over to the seemingly abandoned balcony.

"Bella, what are y-" Bella cut me off before I could say anything more.

"Wait, don't say anything yet," she looked around at every possible angle to ensure no one would hear their evidently important conversation. After a few more moments of searching the surrounding balconies and courtyards, she came to the conclusion that they were, indeed, alone.

"Bella, what's so important that you had to drag me away from Rodolphus and Aneira?" She looked at me silently for what seemed like ages. Her usually distinguished face was twisted into an expression I had never seen before, and it startled me.

"Have you talked to Andromeda lately?" she asked me, the same intense facial expression, only this time the expression commingled with disorientation, giving her the appearance of a young bewildered child.

"No, not recently. I've been busying myself with schoolwork. Why do you ask?" I asked rather distraught.

"I was on patrol with Rodolphus when we came across Andy and some mud blood boy . They were walking down the corridors back to their common room, holding hands and laughing. We didn't say anything to them because they were going back to their tower, but I have a bad feeling about it. They seemed like they were more than friends," she said, her eyes narrowing at the thought of our other sister courting a mud blood. Andy had always been the rebellious one, being sorted into Ravenclaw, but she would have to be completely daft if she thought she could sneak around with a mud blood boy without Bella knowing; Bella _always _knew if something was wrong.

I was silent for a while. The only noise was the sound of the wind blowing, sweeping our hair over our eyes, obscuring our view for awhile. I was thinking how to handle this deadly frail predicament. If Andy _was _sneaking around with a mud blood, Bella and I both knew how their parents would handle this if they ever found out. They would most likely disinherit her, with little, if any, qualm.

"We'll have to convince Andy to end it, _discreetly_. No one will even know of her treacherous mistake of the heart. After she does leave him, we should really have her head examined, either that or tie her up and make her understand that would she's done is wrong and explain the dolefully permanent consequences that would have followed if she still dated that filthy mud blood, an intervention." I said mostly to myself, still trying to accept the fact that Andy was sneaking around, and whatever else they were doing, with such filth.

Bella sat down and pondered my it for a few more moments ,"It is a more favorable suggestion than what my method."

"What was your idea, Bella?" I asked. I could only imagine what Bella would do if I did not accompany her to restrain her. She would probably kill her. No, she _**would **_kill her, no remorse or grief. She would simply, with a minuscule flick of her wand, kill Andy. I was sure of it.**  
**  
"I was planning to talk to the mud blood first, kill him, and send his left ear to Andy, with a note saying that she was never allowed to even dare think about courting such _impurity_. Of course she would be mad but she would get the point," she said, her acute expression never once faltering. She was dead serious.

"Bella!" I uttered slightly amused. For almost half a second, a smile had etched its way on both of our faces before we turned, once again, solemn.

"What? That's why I said that we should go ahead with your suggestion," she replied, our smiles surreptitiously crept back onto our naturally pale faces. As much as I enjoyed my eldest sister's company, it was nearing midnight, and fearing what was to happen in the near future, all I wanted to do right now was to crawl under my silk and satin sheets and dream dreams of when everything in my life was once perfect, when Andy wasn't rebellious, Bella wasn't as destructive, and all I was expected to do was nod my head and look pretty.

I said my goodbyes to Aneira and the rest of our parents' high society friends and disapparated back to the comforting warmth of Black Manor. The elves retrieved my coat and gloves, storing them dutifully in the hall closet, where all of their other expensive coats and such were stored.

I clambered up the same regal staircase I usually walked up, but something was different. In the pit of my stomach, I knew our family would never be the same. Like Bella, my mother always knew when something was even slightly different than usual, and put a stop to it, immediately.

I opened my door, changed into my night clothes, and crawled under my soft sheets, the chiffon comforter billowing as the open window lured the night time wind into my room.

It was hard to get to sleep not knowing when Bella, Andy, and our parents would be back. Had Bella decided to tell our parents? If she did, what would they do? The worrying thoughts all dissipated at about three in the morning, when I heard them all stumble through the front door. Their footsteps grew fainter as they replaced their shoes with the soft plush of slippers, although I could still hear the muffled steps of my family walking towards their rooms. Three door snapped closed as I drifted to sleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by the usual house elf, announcing that it was time for breakfast.

I changed into my day clothes and walked warily down those same stairs as the night before. Everyone was already sitting at the table when I walked in. There was an air of discomfort so thick I could hardly breathe. As I took my seat beside Bella, she gave me a look saying 'I didn't tell them yet', but our parents didn't seem to notice. Our father was busy reading the front page of _The Daily Prophet _and mother was reading Rita Skeeter's gossip column. Andy, Bella, and I said nothing, we just stared at each other, unsure of what we should really be doing. After a few more moments of silence, it was time to pack for our trip to Hogwarts tomorrow.

Once again, I walked back up the stairs and into my habitual bedroom of emerald and ruby. I packed all the essentials: new robes, quills, some make-up, brush, etc… It only took me about thirty minutes to pack everything I needed to bring tomorrow, most of what I needed was still at Hogwarts in the girl dormitory of the Slytherin dungeons.

We used the floo network, we arrived at the 9¾ train station just as a wave of students and eager parents were coming through the wall from the muggle train station. I kissed mother and made my way onto the train; my personal house elf, Calla, trailing behind my every step to take my luggage onto the train.

I walked onto the train and found the train compartment where Bella and the rest of the other elite were sitting. I nestled myself in between Bella and Rabastan were sitting. I could feel eyes on me as I read through a textbook, knowing that they had found out about Andy and the mud blood. I continued to read until I saw that we were half way to Hogwarts and the ladies had to put on our robes. As the boys came back in, Rodolphus looked disgusted, as did Malfoy and Rosier.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a nonchalant tone.

"You mean besides the fact that we should even have to share a train with all these mud bloods and blood traitors?" he replied, slightly agitated ,"We just saw Andromeda and the mud blood with their lot." Bella and I exchanged perturbed glances as I got up to leave the compartment.

"Where are you going?" Malfoy asked incredulously. I looked at him for a moment, a look of sheer annoyance on my face, before closing the compartment door. Not even an entire second passed before I heard Bella and probably everyone else attempting to get a view of what the youngest Black sister was going to do to her blood traitor sister.

I found the compartment I indubitably knew Andromeda would be behind, with her mud blood boyfriend and mud blood friends. I hesitated before opening the compartment's clearly unlocked door.

_Should I do this?  
Yes… Definitely.  
She needs to know what will happen, even if she ends up hating me._  
I opened the compartment's slightly rusted door and took a step in with my head held high in the most superior way I could. I took a decorous step into the compartment, receiving a few glares; I assumed they noticed my Slytherin robes. I took in the change in of light and turned to see Andromeda, obviously shocked, with a shaggy-haired boy's arm around her neck.

"Cissa?" she asked, still in a state of shock.

I looked around at the faces staring at me as though I'd seen them everyday, which seemed to annoy some of them, obvious of the scowls on some of their faces. I smiled prettily at them before I turned back to Andy.

"I need to talk to you . . . privately," I told her, my cordial smile never faltering.

"Anything you need to say to me, you can say in front of my friends," she replied, a new, malicious smile on her face, reminding me of our mother. I raised my brow before returning her malicious smile.

"Fine, I'll get straight to the point," I started; by now I had everyone's attention ,"you may not like it but you can't be associating with mud bloods and blood traitors."

This obviously upset her, her eyes were brimming with tears. She stared at me blankly while I stared back, my smile now replaced by a sneer as I looked around at the surrounding witnesses.

"You, too?" she finally choked out.

"Yes, but only because it's not right. You are a pure blood, now start acting like it or even _you _should know what will happen once our parents find out." I replied mercilessly.

"What do you mean 'it's not right'?" she asked, her head buried into the shaggy-haired boy's shoulder.

"You very well know what I mean!" I snapped ,"You disgrace our family, tainting our family tree! Our family has spent years perfecting it, too many years for you to thoughtlessly tarnish it!" I said as I felt my temper rising. Did she not understanding what she was about to do to our family?

"To hell with our family tree! What if I don't want to marry a pure blood? What if I want to marry Ted?" she shrieked, removing her head from his shoulder.

"What do you mean to hell with the family tree? It's our responsibility to keep the pure line alive, like it or not! And who the bloody hell is Ted?" I asked, now bemused.

"Me," answered the scruffy boy she was clinging to.

"What do you mean its my **responsibility**?" she exclaimed, her temper boiling higher and higher.

"Yes, whether you like it or not, it is, because you're a Black!" I retorted, my eyes still surveying 'Ted' with disgust.

"WELL I DON'T WANT TO BE A BLACK!" she exclaimed, her tone dangerous and upset.  
"WELL, IF YOU KEEP IT UP, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE A CHOICE!" I screamed back. I heard murmuring from not just inside the compartment, but from the corridors of the train, people were congesting the corridors to listen to our argument, everyone in shock; hardly anyone had ever heard me raise my voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice now starting to crack, and her voice lowering.

"It means that if you keep dating 'Ted' that you will blasted off of the bloody family tree!" I explained, but my tone softened as she finally started to comprehend what I was saying ,"And guess who's going to have to sit there and watch it, me and Bella. Bella might not mind losing a sister, but I do." I finished. It was just as I finished talking that I was aware that _everyone _had been listening to us, hanging on to every word we said, some even writing it down or recording it.

"I- I" she tried, but I had already had enough.

"Andy . . . don't. I don't want to hear anything else from you for awhile," I said, my voice hoarse, my own eyes brimming with tears. With that, I nimbly walked out of the compartment, everybody's eyes never leaving my pace. When I walked back to my compartment, I found it empty, followed by the hastened footsteps of Bella, Rodolphus, Malfoy, Rosier, and the rest of the elite.

I took the seat next to the window and stared blankly out into the country side. Bella sat dutifully next to me, thinking of saying something that might comfort me, something she wasn't used to doing often. For the first time since I've been at Hogwarts, everyone was completely quiet, not even the sound of a page flipping from a book. I only wish it wasn't because of me.


	4. Lucky for you, mirrors don't laugh

The train halted and I could hear scuttling and bustling from the congested corridors of the train. We waited awhile, packing away the spare books that were just recently flung out across the compartment. I was the last to leave the almost-comforting plush of the seat. Our luggage was already in the castle as we made sure we were accounted for. We were escorted into the carriages and prepared for a long ride from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Fearing I would go mad by all of this silence, I decided to shatter the silence.

"Why can't we just apparate to the Hogwarts gates? We always have to take a half hour ride by boat or carriage. It just doesn't make sense to me," I stated, hoping I would spark a conversation. To my dismay, everyone looked at me with doleful expressions.

"What?" I shrieked in frustration. They exchanged dismal glances before turning away from my baffled expression.

"We didn't think you would want to talk after what happened with Andromeda on the train," Bella started hesitantly.

"And why wouldn't I? " I demanded vehemently, causing a few passing curious glances from surrounding carriages.

"I just thought," she tried before I cut her off.

"Well, you thought wrong, Bella. I'm perfectly fine," I reassured softly, never breaking eye contact.

"You didn't sound _fine _on the train," she retorted, concern filling the depths of her dark eyes.

"Well I am now, so can we all just forget that that ever happened?" I asked demandingly.

"We can but no one else will," Rodolphus murmured.

The rest of the carriage ride was spent talking about Christmas vacation, seeing as no one wanted to talk on the train. When we finally arrived at the wrought-iron gates, I was positively starving for an actual conversation _and _food.

We took our seats at the Slytherin table, our green serpentine flag-like banners billowing above our table. I was seated next to Bella and Evan. Across from myself and Bella was Rodolphus and Malfoy. Chatter filled the air, mostly coming from the surrounding tables, seeing as Slytherins weren't very talkative and kept to themselves.

It continued like this for about an hour and a half, inane chatter between bites, when the headmaster gave his usual speech on how the prefects were in charge and The Forbidden Forest was off limits. No one was actually paying attention, instead, they focused themselves on talking about the seemingly small spat between Andromeda and me. I could feel their constant stares burning into my back. I would have to remind myself to check and see if they left welt marks once I got back to the dormitories.

Once his speech was over, the headmaster and the remaining teachers departed, intending for the students to follow after. Bella, being a prefect, rounded up all of the first years, excluding me, and walked them to the dungeons. I chose, instead, to walk with our group, ignoring envious glares from the first years and even some second and third years.

We walked silently for some time before the silence was broken. Rodolphus stopped and I walked straight into his towering silhouetted figure. It took me only seconds to realize why he had stopped. James Potter and his friends were standing in front of the dungeon we should have been going through by now. They were laughing at Bella's death glare and circled around the frightened first years, surveying them with discontent before he stopped in front of Bella.

"Well, boys, what do we have here?" Potter said with a smirk, causing me to roll my eyes. Gryffindors _really _shouldn't smirk, they're terrible at it.

"Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew," Bella growled ,"go away before I feel the need to blow you back to Gryffindor Tower."

"Calm down, Black. There's no need to get mean," he replied with a stupid grin.  
"Well then, move!" she shrieked, her eyes gleaming menacingly.

"Not until we see what kind of first years we have, here," he said circling the first years once again.

"Leave them alone, Potter," she said moving to stand in front of the first years.

"It seems that we're missing someone," he said, eyeing me from behind Rodolphus. Bella followed his gaze and once again her temper started firing up, only considerably faster this time around.

"Don't take a step near her, Potter!" she screeched, not trying to control her temper.

"It's fine, Bella. I can look after myself," I said, attempting to comfort her as I stepped aside from the crowd to stand beside Bella. He smiled at me, his friends following suit.

"Don't look at me like that," I spat, making him grin even wider.

He turned to Bella once again, "You must be proud ,Black, she certainly is your sister. Pity, she looks like she could be nice like Andromeda."

"I would rather be Bellatrix than Andromeda," I retorted, making Bella swell with pride.

"And why is that, little one?" he asked in a false baby voice, intentionally irritating me.

I glared at him, obviously startling the chubby one behind him because he made a rat-like squealing noise and cowered behind Potter.

"One, don't _ever _call me that again, and two, Bella isn't a blood traitor. Blood traitors are just as bad as mud bloods,but you would know that, wouldn't you, Potter?" I replied, still flashing my own death glare.

Not to my surprise, he just flashed a boyish grin and laughed. By this time, Bella was on the verge of hexing someone to Ravenclaw Tower. Seeing the oncoming danger, Rodolphus, Malfoy, and Evan took out their wands and directed them at Potter in one swift movement. I smiled to myself at the thought of them blasting Potter down the corridor.

Before I knew what was happening, flashes of green, red, and gold were whizzing past my face. I stepped a little forward to try and get a better view of the fight ,but I felt a tug at the back of my head and was dragged in front of Potter, probably used as a shield. All of the curses stopped as everyone was staring at me struggling to get away from Potter.

Everyone had a murderous expression on their face, excluding the first years who were cowering on the side of the dungeon's wall.

"Potter, give me my little sister," Bella said slowly, shaking with anger.

"I will as soon as you apologize," he said defiantly. At this statement, Rodolphus grabbed her around the waist as she attempted to pound Potter's face with her fists. B y the look on his friends' faces, I could tell Potter was about to go into a laughing fit.

"Calm down, Black, I haven't done anything to her- _yet_," he said smoothly, still holding his firm grip on my waist.

I'd had enough for tonight. I strategically squirmed myself out of his grip, then turned to look at his face. To my shock, he had a smirk on his face.

"See, your sister doesn't mind me holding her," he told Bella with the same smirk on his face before he turned to Evan and Malfoy, "eh, Malfoy."  
This time it was Malfoy's turn to attempt to pound Potter's face, only to be held back by Evan, Rodolphus, and Bella.

I turned back to Potter and sneered up at him. I did the one thing I could do that would make him fully understand how I felt towards him. With Malfoy now under control and everyone's eyes on us again, I smiled and took his face into my dainty hands. Without saying anything, I balled up my fists and slugged him right on his nose.

He looked at me as blood was now pouring down face, gob smacked. I strutted back over to Bella, who was now bursting into a full fit of laughter, with the only thing holding her up was Rodolphus, who was laughing uncontrollably but still standing. I turned back to Potter, who was being tended to by the chubby one ,and the tall, lanky one was just staring at me with his mouth agape slightly.

"I don't recommend putting your hands on me, Potter," I said once some of the laughter subsided.

While everyone was still either laughing or forced to listen to them laugh, no one heard the click clack of worn down heels running towards us.

"What in Merlin's name is going on down here?" McGonagall shrieked.

I looked to Bella ,but she already had a plan in her mind, "Umm, Professor McGonagall, I don't think this situation should be talked about in front of the first years, except Narcissa, it's mostly about her."

McGonagall looked at us for some time before asking Evan to bring the first years to the Slytherin common room. As the first years stepped through the wall, McGonagall signaled for us to follow her pace back to her office. As soon as we came to a stop in front of a classroom with a slightly smaller room near the back of the room.

"Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew, stay out here while I talk to Lestrange, Malfoy, and Miss Black and her sister," she said pointedly referring to the benches across the room. They trudged back across the room as we warily stepped into her office.

"Now, what was the cause of this, Miss Black?" she asked while adjusting her pointed hat to sit atop her head without the worry of tipping. Bella and I exchanged humorous glances.

"Which one," we asked simultaneously, causing Rodolphus and Malfoy to smirk as a smile etched its way onto McGonagall's mouth.

"Either one of you would be just fine," she replied slightly amused.

Bella took it upon herself to, once again, save us from an impending gap of silence.

"Well, Professor McGonagall, I was walking the first years back to the common room when Potter and his lot decided to stand in front of the doorway to the Slytherin dungeons. I told him to move and that he was in my way, and we had a disagreement. Somewhere along this path, he brutally snatched my sister from us and refused to return her to us. I think my younger sister would like to explain the rest of the story, seeing as it involved her," Bella stated.

"Miss Black," she asked while turning to me.

"Well, Potter and his friends were mercilessly laughing at my disheveled state from being taken from my sister's presence. To be quite frank, I punched Potter in his nose," I replied emotionless.

She stared at me for what seemed like hours before releasing us to wait on the benches. We didn't say anything, we just laughed at the look on Potter's face when I'd hit him. Before we knew it, McGonagall came back out with Potter and his lackeys, who didn't seem to look quite happy.

"Ok, you are all free to go back to your common rooms, now," she said before turning back and said, "Potter, don't forget that you and your friends have detention for a month starting tomorrow at eight o'clock." Potter simply nodded in response to assure that he had heard her.

As soon as we were out of ear-shot, Bella and Rodolphus were already starting to make plans for revenge. Malfoy and I just walked along and listening to what they had to say, nodding our heads in agreement. It got quiet as we neared the Slytherin dungeons.

"Cissy, Rodolphus and I have to keep patrolling the castle. Malfoy, make sure Cissy gets back _untouched_," she demanded while turning back around with Rodolphus.

"Of course," he replied, turning back to the Slytherin dungeons.

We walked in silence, the only noise was the rain pounding against the surrounding windows. There was a monstrous storm brewing tonight. I never had liked thunderstorms. Rain was alright ,but I could _not _deal with thunder or lightening.

The rain started pounding harder and harder against the window as we slowly strolled along. I could sense the lightening and thunder growing nearer. As it struck almost right beside the window, I quickened my pace, which didn't go unnoticed by Malfoy.

"I take it you don't exactly favor thunderstorms; I don't either. If you're alone, the thunder barges its way into your thoughts and primly reminds you that you're alone," he said, breaking then silence.

"I've never liked thunderstorms, although Bella always was the bravest one," I explained softly.

He was about to reply when a thick bolt of lightening shot passed the window, causing me to gasp and jump slightly. Malfoy looked at me uncertainly.

"Why do people call you Cissa?" he asked suddenly.

"It's my nickname," I told him, "but Bella and Andy call me Cissy."

He thought on this for a while longer, "and why do you have blonde hair while Bellatrix and Andromeda are deep brunettes?" he asked curiously.

"There used to be blondes in the Black family. It skipped four generations, which is why I'm blonde," I answered hesitantly.

We came to the Slytherin dungeon and walked through the wall. I went to sit by the fire with Evan and Malfoy sat across the room, reading a Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"Hey, Cissa," Evan greeted, "so what happened?"

"We explained what happened and Potter and his goons got detention for a month," I told him, unconsciously yawning. Evan looked satisfied with what I'd said.

I was making my way across the common room when Malfoy caught my glance.

"What?" I asked calmly, shrieking on the inside.

"I didn't say anything, Cissa," he replied smoothly.

I glowered at him, not even trying to hide my aggravation ,"I didn't give you permission to call me Cissa," I corrected him.

He smirked, grabbed his book, and nonchalantly sauntered up the stairs to the second year dorms.

"Goodnight, Cissa", he called as he closed the dormitory doors.  
"Goodnight, Malfoy", I replied mockingly.

I received a few unsure glances. All of a sudden, it hit me how exceedingly tired I was. I grabbed my bag and bid my goodnights and sleep wells to Evan and the rest of the elite. I needed a good night's sleep or someone would have to take me to St. Mungo's on a count of madness.

I found my four-poster bed and flopped down unceremoniously on the duvet. I fell asleep briskly, falling into a desperately needed sleep. I had the same dream I'd had the before we prepared for Hogwarts.

_Bella, Andy, and I were in the Black Manor's backyard swinging on an old-fashioned rope swing. We_

were laughing about something Andy had said. Mother and Father were slowly swinging on the porch

swing in the gazebo, intently watching us, smiling. Sirius and Regulus were flying on their brooms

above us playing one-on-one quidditch"CISSY! WAKE UP!", Bella wailed into my ear.

I sat straight up, colliding heads with Bella.

"Bloody hell, Bella!" I screeched in pain ,"What?"

"It's time to get up," she replied, surveying me with amusement, healing the newly sprouted red bump on her head ,"unless you want to miss your classes."

I got up like a cat arising from a long night's sleep and stumbled to the showers. After taking a cool shower, I walked over to my dresser and dressed in a black skirt, a white long-sleeved shirt with an emerald colored cardigan over it, black tights, and a pair of forest green stilettos.

After dressing, I walked over to my vanity and put on the serpent necklace Bella and Andy bought me, a pair of emerald studs, and finished my hair and make-up.

I walked down to the common room where Aaron was waiting. Once again, we were the last to leave to go to breakfast.

"Hey, Aaron," I said in a cheery voice.

"Hey, Cissa, oversleep again?" he asked questioningly, but he already knew the answer.

"Unfortunately, but at least I had a good dream" I replied.

Without any more distractions, we walked arm in arm to breakfast, and I was right, we were the very last ones to enter breakfast. Everything was in full swing when we walked to Slytherin table. Bella and Rodolphus were still plotting to destroy the Gryffindors, Malfoy was talking with some other Slytherin about an assignment in Slughorn's class, and Evan was silently picking at some toast and sipping pumpkin juice.

Before sitting down, I spared a glance at the Gryffindor table and saw that Potter, now with a bandage on his nose, and most other Gryffindors were glaring at me. I flashed them a proud Slytherin smile and waved at Potter. He simply turned around and finished eating his breakfast, mumbling curses under his breath.

I sat next to Bella and Malfoy while Aaron sat next to his older brother, Evan, and Rodolphus. I wasn't that hungry but managed to peck on some waffles. I listened as Bella suggested that we corner the Gryffindors and turn them into the rats they are and let them scamper back to class still in rodent form or something or other, I wasn't really paying attention.

We left for class and came across the people we hate the most, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Some Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs stopped to watch.

"Nice bandages, Potter," Evan spat mockingly. Some passing Ravenclaws snickered as they passed. The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors glared as the Ravenclaws passed, but that's the way it has always been, according to Bella. The Hufflepuffs preferred the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws preferred the Slytherins and vice versa.

"Oh, shut it, Rosier," Pettigrew chimed in from behind Potter and Lupin.

"What are you going to do to stop him, Pettigrew?" I asked in an amused tone as he gave another rodent-like squeal and hid even farther behind towering Lupin.

"She speaks, too? I thought she was here to merely be Bellatrix's pet," he started.

" I think you very well know that she's not here to be a pet from last night, Potter," Malfoy retorted, "Although, if you need help remembering, you could always find a mirror and look at those bandages you're wearing because of her."

He scowled and stalked off, his friends following suit. The Hufflepuffs were unsure of whether they stay and defend the Gryffindors or quickly walk away, eventually deciding to quickly walk away.

Any remaining students scurried away before we could say anything else. We departed, all in pairs of two, as we walked to class.

སྤྱ

སྤྱ

A/N:

This chapter was harder to write than the other chapters for some reason, probably because of all the dialogue, but it's my favorite chapter so far! 


	5. It is personality that catches the heart

Classes were the same as always, although we did receive a few demonic glares from most Gryffindors and even a few bold Hufflepuffs. Lunch was a little awkward; you had to watch your back or else it would get hexed, proved by many revenge-seeking Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.  
I walked with Aaron to lunch and met up with the elite. We walked into the Great Hall a tad late, but hardly anybody noticed, they were too busy watching their surroundings. It was unusually quiet for lunch time. Usually, chatter would rip through the air and suffocate the teachers, who just sat and watched, but today, the only noise was the screeching sound of metal on metal.

"So," Rodolphus said, shattering the silence at our table, "we've decided how we're going to get revenge on those filthy mud bloods."

"How?" I asked half heartedly while simultaneously picking at the vegetables on my plate.  
"We want each 'Marauder' to suffer equally but separately," he started, "so, we're going to have to somehow get them alone, or one of us will have to infiltrate their little group and befriend them, only for the time being, of course."

By the look on Malfoy and the Rosiers' faces, they had never expected that one of us would have to actually interact with any of them. I guess I could of saw this coming, it was a classic Lord Voldemort move. He would befriend you, then kill you, simple as that.

I knew this thanks to Bella, it's all she talked about during Christmas holiday! I have Rodolphus to thank for that; he had stumbled across a . . . secret club, if you will, that wanted to wipe out any unworthy impurities. The club soon gained popularity and respect from most pureblood families, including the Blacks and Malfoys.

"So, which one of us?" Evan asked slowly, turning to see if any of our surrounding classmates had heard us.

"That," Bella said hesitantly, "it was we're still trying to figure out. I think that on of the younger ones should do it, they're fresh and no one knows them. They're perfect for the job!"

"Now when you say younger, you don't mean one of us, do you?" Aaron asked, petrified.

"Of course not, everyone knows that you'd never talk to a mud blood, nonetheless the be friends with them," Rodolphus stated smoothly, " and Cissy can't do it because of the stunt with Potter." We all had to smile at this, the feeling of triumph still hadn't faded from the night before, like Potter's injured nose.

"Why don't we use one of the little shy ones; I'm sure I can get one of them to do it," I answered thoughtfully.

"Which one did you have in mind, there's so many shy first years," Malfoy asked looking down the table at the first years who were reading their textbooks and sipping orange juice, staying oddly quiet.

"Yeah, how do we know that they'll even want to do it?" Aaron asked looking in the same direction as Malfoy, only Aaron could actually name most of them.

"Well, we'll decide later. Right now, I want to talk about the Dark Lord," Bella interrupted gleefully. I could see a twinkle in the back of her eyes, a malicious glint.

"He's recruiting this weekend, and we should all go!" Bella said, more demanding than suggesting.

Rodolphus looked at Bella for a minute before kissing the top of her ebony hair. Bella just smiled and continued to admirably talk of the Dark Lord's plan to wreak havoc on all those unworthy.

"Is the meeting open to first years?" Aaron asked interestedly.

"I don't see why not. Just don't think of joining until your seventh year, that goes for you, too, _Cissy_," Rodolphus said with a smirk.  
"Wouldn't dream of it, _Rod_," I replied in a false sweet voice, "I don't think I even want to even be a death eater."The clatter of their forks and knives stopped as they all turned and looked at me with appalled faces.

"Care to elaborate, Cissy?" Bella hissed through a glare. It didn't worry me the least, I'd seen it many times before, but this was the first time that it was directed at me, instead of Andy.

A took a deep breath, careful not to let my voice crack, I wasn't used to getting this kind of response.

"I don't agree with _every _method that the Dark Lord has, I don't even know _who _the Dark Lord is, Bella, and neither do you! This doesn't mean, however, that I don't agree with his theories. I _do _want a world purged of all filth, I just don't like that so much _magical _blood is spilled while pining over _mud bloods _and _blood traitors_, but if that is what it takes, fine, I won't stand in the way of oncoming progress. I wouldn't even mind being part of the planning and supporting, but I'll have a son or daughter to take care of and _won't _stand to let someone besides me and my husband raise our child, and I certainly won't let a pack of ravenous death eaters get their claws into him or her," she explained, finished with, "not everyone is as kind and understanding as you all."

It was kind of quiet after my little invocation. Everyone had a different look on their face. Bella looked proud, Aaron looked uncomfortable, Evan looked confused, Rodolphus looked thoroughly amused, but I couldn't decode the look on Malfoy's face. It was somewhere between amused and overwhelmed.

"Well, you should come to the meeting, regardless," Bella said. Her malicious glint was replaced by a swelling pride only Bella could suppress with a giggle.

"What about Andy?" I asked. Bella stiffened slightly at the sound of Andy's name and her face scrunched up into a sneer soon after.

"What about her?" she replied mercilessly.

"Is she coming?" I asked as though the idea of having to explain was unnecessary.

"That filth-loving tart, of course not! She would either not come or insult and embarrass us in front of the Dark Lord with all of this talk of blood equality."

"Bella, language! I would prefer you did not talk of our _sister _in that manner. She may have made some wrong decisions but give her some more time, she might come around."

"She stopped being our sister the moment she chose that mud blood over us!" Bella exclaimed. I could see her temper rising ,and surrounding tables were starting to notice.

"I would rather we take this conversation in the common room than have us discuss this out in the open, Bella," I said through gritted teeth.

"No time, Cissy, lunch is just about over. We'll talk later, though. Just for the record, I'm not angry with you so much as I'm angry with Andy for throwing our good name out of favor to some," she said, finishing in a lighter tone.

The bell went off and we all went back to class. Last class of the day, Herbology with Hufflepuffs, but since we were the last class of the day, we were budged in with first _and _second years. At least it wouldn't be that bad today. It felt nice outside today which meant that Professor Sprout would take us outside for some kind of aquatic plant in the Black Lake above the

Slytherin dungeons.  
"Okay class, today we're going to make the best of the nice weather today, so grab your things and follow me to the Black Lake," Professor Sprout proclaimed as we stepped into the grungy  
greenhouses.

We all grabbed a pair of gloves and some gardening tools and followed stout Professor Sprout out down to the murky lake.

"We're going to be studying Monkshood today, but be warned, it is extremely poisonous, and you'll have to check and see if there are any fire slugs crawling on them, they bite," Sprout started, "Now, get into groups of four and start uprooting the Monkshood."

My group consisted of myself, Aaron, Malfoy, and some other second year Slytherin.  
I took off my shoes and waded into the lake's shore, everyone else following behind me. Herbology was an extremely easy subject to understand.

"Cissa, I don't see how you uproot the Monkshood, it's so bloody irritating!" Aaron said as he

attempted to pluck the plant from the tip of the plant's leaves.  
"How hard is it to just reach into the water and pull up the roots of the plant," I said.

He looked like he was having trouble reaching his hand in the water as though it were going to bite him, " and don't even think of saying that you're scared of it! Just because it has eyes doesn't mean that it's going to bite you! It's a bloody plant for Merlin's sake, Aaron!" I told him vehemently.

I could here Malfoy chuckling behind me.

"What are you laughing at Malfoy?" I asked him lightly. A fire slug burned Malfoy's hand and our group, including Malfoy, couldn't help but laugh.

"You seem to be taking this very seriously," he said jokingly as he started cradling his right hand to his chest, "what can I do to make the sting go away?"

"Here, let me," I said and went back to get some aloe from the supplies bag. I found the bright green bottle and walked back down to the water and found Malfoy again.

"Ooh, that looks bad; you're definitely going to need something stronger than aloe when we get back to the castle, but for now this will do," I said as I examined his now red hand and smoothed the gel over it, careful not to rub against it too much.

"How do you know so much about this?" he asked curiously as I put on the finishing touches.

"I've lived with Bella for 11 years, one would need to know how to heal and treat burns and injuries, especially on short notice," I replied casually. I decided that now was the time to meet the second year Slytherin mystery girl I hadn't said a word to, but she was obviously clinging to every word we were saying.

"Hi, I'm Narcissa Black," I said, extending my hand to the black-haired girl with a round nose. She shook my hand lightly and I could see a slight sneer in her expression as she drew her hand back.  
"Violet Parkinson, of the pureblood Parksinsons," she replied with the same sneer on her face. Aaron was watching warily from the side, as was Malfoy.

They looked like they knew something I didn't, but wore different expressions. Aaron looked like I was taking a dragon's egg right out from the dragon, but Malfoy's expression was completely different; he looked like calm, but under that he looked somewhat impressed, but by what?

"You're a second year, right?" I inquired while returning to plucking more Monkshood.

"Yes, I am. You're Bellatrix's sister?" she asked sinisterly.  
I gave a nod as I finally got the biggest Monkshood I had ever seen before.

"Good job, Ms. Black! That's a _mother _Monkshood. They're the hardest to get; twenty points to Slytherin! Your group may stop for the day."

"You're a _goddess_, Cissa," Aaron said as soon as Sprout wandered off to examine some other group's work.

"Thank you, _Cissa_," Malfoy said as soon as Aaron stopped hugging me.

"My pleasure, _Lucius_," I retorted with a famous Slytherin smirk.

Aaron and Violet watched in silence, scared to interrupt us or pick a side. Aaron started walking up the hill back to the castle when I was still packing up all of our stuff.

"See you in the common room, homework to do, and if I don't start now I'll never finish in time to actually have fun this weekend," Aaron shouted as he walked out of view.

"You coming, Lucius?" Violet asked in a small, polite voice.

"Later, maybe. I'm going to help, Cissa put supplies up," he called back, already heading for me. She gave him an uncertain, but left without an explanation.

"You're going to help me? How unlike you, Malfoy," I told him as he started shoving samples of Monkshood into the bag in front of me.

"What happened to Lucius?" he asked with his own smirk.

"Fine. So, why are you helping me, Lucius," I corrected myself.

"I happen to be in a good mood, and you did help me with my hand," he replied with a disarming smile.

"Fair enough. Why are you in such a good mood?" I asked curiously as I finished packing in the last jars of the poisonous plant.

"It's the weekend, naturally, I'm in a good mood," he retorted, "when did you start asking so many questions, anyways?"

"I'm not asking that many questions!" I shot back.

He put his hands up as to defend himself, "Fine, Fine," he said before muttering under his breath, "testy testy."

I laughed at this. He was behaving so out of character.

"So what are your plans this weekend? Anything big happening for you?" I asked as we walked over to open grass a little further away from Herbology class and the Black Lake.

"Actually, that's why I'm in such a good mood, I suppose," he said, thinking to himself out loud, "My parents are throwing a party for me this weekend."

"Oh," I said genuinely interested, "For anything special?"

"Not really. My birthday's this Saturday and they feel the need to throw a big party," he replied nonchalantly.

"Well that's not just anything!" I exclaimed, "You _should _make a fuss over it! In fact, mine is next month, and I know for certain my parents are throwing me a party."  
"I just don't see why we should celebrate another year closer to death," he replied. He was _dead _serious!

"Well, I like to stay positive. It's not just another year closer to death, it's another year closer to making your dreams come true. Besides, you know what people say, the older the wiser and more enriching, like wine," I reassured on a higher note than necessary.

He seemed to find this amusing as though I had just told him some joke about a mudblood.

"You really aren't like either of your sisters, are you?" he inquired in an amused tone, though he seemed less glum.

"No, I'm my own person _completely_. I have no desire to be either of my sisters," I told him carelessly. For some odd reason, I felt I could trust him, like he wouldn't tell anyone my deepest thoughts. We sat down on a perfect green patch of grass and continued to talk for hours.

By the time we had stopped, it was dark and we were lying on our backs looking at the sky. We had eventually gotten off the subject of our weekend plans and ended up talking about our thoughts about the Dark Lord and everything in the middle of that.

He had the same views as mine, but he wanted to be a death eater, which didn't bother me the slightest. From what I could tell, he was a very exceptional dueler.

"We should probably be getting back," I told him after another ten minutes.

"Why?" he asked, still staring at the stars.

"Because," I replied in a slightly teasing tone, "it's dark and tomorrow is Saturday; you'll need to get up early if you're going to prepare for your _party_."

"I'm only going if you go, too," he retorted, not budging.

"Why me?" I inquired with a quizzical look on my face.

He leaned on one of his arms and looked at me, "Because, you can hold an interesting conversation."

"Fine, but shear warning, I've never had to dance with a partner before. In fact, I haven't been to a party since I was younger, and my mother wanted to show me off to her high society friends."

"You'll do better than me, by all means," he replied jestingly.

"Well, come on. We better get going," I finally said.

He sighed but stood anyway. He offered me his hand to help me up, and we walked back to the common room. When we walked in, everyone one was still up study for next week's lessons and finishing up today's homework. We walked in and bid our goodnights to each other at the intersecting staircases.

We received some shocked glances but continued anyway. When he was finally out of view, I started to think for myself again.

What would I wear?

_Hmmm, I'll just have to go to mother's tomorrow and pick something new out.  
_  
I reached the landing to find Bella waiting for me. She looked uneasy and a little distraught.  
"Bella, what's wrong?" I asked.

She only shook her head, "Nothing, I just saw you and Malfoy by the lake, and Aaron said that you were let out of Herbology _early_."

"Oh, well, I'm going to sleep. I have a party to attend tomorrow," I told her.

I walked past her and took a shower. The water felt soothing against my skin. I changed into my camisole and crawled under my duvet and closed my eyes. I had to get some sleep if I was going to be up and ready for tomorrow. 


	6. I speak my mind

I awoke the next morning in a euphoric mood at eight sharp and prepared to take a visit to my parent's house. If I was lucky, they might still be asleep, and I could sneak in and sneak out.

As soon as I opened the door, I was greeted by a wide-eyed house elf who was holding a basket of laundry in one hand and a frying pan in the other.

"Young mistress is home early from Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" it squeaked in a most unappealing tone that grated my ears.

I quickly shushed the elf and hissed, "Yes, and my visit will go unnoticed by my parents. Understand? I'm just here to get a dress, and then I'll be on my way."

The revolting little elf just nodded nervously and left me to sneak up the stairs to find my room. I heard footsteps just as I walked into my room. I had to hide, but where?

I decided to hide in my never ending closet, that way I could continue my search and apparate to Hogsmeade as soon as the culprit left my room.

I soon found out who had invaded my sleeping chamber. It was my mother; she was sifting through some of my perfumes on my vanity and decided on a small, pale bottle that I vaguely remembered smelled like sweet fruit. As soon as she left, I found the dress I wanted and apparated out of the house and into the crowded streets of Hogsmeade.

I made my way swiftly back to the castle by ten, just enough time to take a cool shower, eat some lunch, and do my hair, etc. . .

When I was finished, I admired myself in the full length mirror next to my bed.

I looked good for someone only eleven. My dress was a pale blue color, like the color of the perfume bottle my mother had borrowed, with matching colored robes. The hem stopped right above my knee. Lucius had informed me that it would be held primarily outside, and I wouldn't have a heat stroke in front of so many important socialites.

My hair was cascading gloriously down by back and stopped right at the end of my back. My eyes matched my dress perfectly, a dark blue contrasting with a pastel blue, brilliant.

I waked down to the corridor where Lucius was supposed to be meeting me. He invited another group of Slytherin, consisting of Goyle, Crabbe, McNair, and a few others I hadn't bothered to meet.

I stepped into the dim green light of the Common Room and was met with a few familiar faces. Apparently I was the last one down, but I didn't exactly feel too bad about it. It allowed me to give a grander entrance, and at least I wouldn't have to wait for any stragglers.

I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, blissfully aware of the appreciative glances I received from my classmates. Lucius was in the armchair nearest the fire. I couldn't really blame him either, the Slytherin Common Room was probably the coldest place in the castle.

He gave me a smile I gratefully returned and got up to escort our group to Hogsmeade. Lucius and I walked arm in arm in front as everyone followed along behind us, whispering cruel things amongst themselves about who knows what.

We finally came across a large carriage being pulled by imperial thestrals. I seemed to be one of the only ones who could see them, along with Lucius, McNair, and a few other Slytherins I didn't know. I entered the carriage first, followed by Lucius, and then Goyle, Crabbe, and then finally the stragglers.  
The carriage was much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. I let out a sigh and decided to strike up conversation, "So, how long will the ride to the portkey be?"

"Not very long. About a half hour," he answered.

Oh my, a half hour? I leaned my head on the window to my right of me and propped my legs up in the seat across from me. If I was going to be shut up in a carriage with eight other people, I was going to do it comfortably.

Lucius saw how comfortable I had already made myself and laughed, to my irritation. I prefer not to be laughed at, even if it is just a little jesting fun.

He didn't seem as enthused as everyone else around us, but I decided I would ask about it later when he wasn't surrounded by his followers. After all, Lucius and I know had a prominent friendship, I didn't want to ruin it.

I may only be eleven, but my older sisters explained to me at the tender age of six about a person's social status and when the appropriate times to talk were. They had also assured me that I could talk to anyone I pleased because of our blood and social status but only to those worthy of having my attention.  
Lucius seemed to notice that he wasn't as jubilant as he should be and shot me an uncharacteristic smile, not one of his feigned expressions.

Growing bored of inane chatter, I returned my views to the people around me. I recognized Violet Parkinson, sitting smugly across from Lucius, a fake smile plaster on her face as she tried not to show how fuming she was that I was sitting next to her boyfriend and that she was sitting next to Goyle, who was boisterously chomping away at cauldron cakes.

I was looking around when suddenly I realized what had been planned for this weekend.

The Dark Lord's meeting!

Lucius saw the now distressing look on my face, as did a few others that had said nothing the whole trip so far. I wanted to remind him, but wasn't sure if he wanted the current company hearing about this particular conversation.

"Cissa, are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked, drawing away the rest of everyone else's attention if they had not already been collusively listening.

I leaned into him and whispered what I had remembered into his ear to where no one else could hear me. His face was blank for a moment but hastily returned to his blase manner. By now everyone around us had a vexed look on their faces.

He returned the whisper inaudibly, "We'll leave early tonight. I'll find a way to sneak us out, and we'll meet Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Evan, and Aaron outside of the Hog's Head."

I pulled back and gave him a wary look, but finished with a smile. At least he could figure things out on a whim. I knew one thing for sure, if we missed the Dark Lord's meeting, not only would we be pelted with questions by a livid Bella, but I would dread having to explain that we missed the meeting for a party. They would scalp us both.

We kept the conversation at a light level that I thought was perfect considering Lucius didn't even want the party. Violet continued to shoot daggers at me whenever possible. She really hated me, and I had only known her hardly two days! When I asked Bella about her that afternoon, she said that Violet had never been overlooked by someone younger than her before, whatever that means.

The carriage stopped, and I looked out of the window. We had stopped in front The Ministry of Magic, of all places.

"The Ministry of Magic?" I inquired once he had helped me out of the carriage, careful not to let me trip on the last steep step.  
"Yes, my father has business here today and wanted to meet you all first," he replied, leading us into the building.

We walked in the building, and at once I noticed that it would look quite odd for a group of first and second years to be walking into the Ministry of Magic unaccompanied. I watched Lucius walk. He walked with a strut exactly like his father. His father was a rather intimidating man; it wouldn't surprise me if he grew up like his father. I'll have to see a change to that.

"Welcome, young Mr. Malfoy. Are these all of them?" she asked curiously, surveying us with a sweet look on her face at the sight of how close we were standing, which I'm pretty sure was too close for just being best friends.

He nodded nonchalantly with a bored look on his face, "When will my father be finished with his meeting?"

"Soon enough. He doesn't even want to be there, so he'll probably be leaving early," she said.

Lucius and I shared a conspiring look. We both knew that the center topic of his meetings was probably rights for protecting muggles from loathsome wizards and witches with murder on their minds.

We decided to wait in Diagon Alley when his father's secretary informed us that he would be occupied for the next half hour. Goyle and Crabbe went off into some sweet shop, McNair and his lot went off to survey the new line of brooms, while Lucius, Violet, and I stalked off to Knockturn Alley for some tea.

We sat down at one of the newest additions to the damask alley. It was rather quaint with its outside tables and dim lights strategically placed in each window. We sipped our cups in silence for the next half hour, not uttering a word except to comment on the shoppers who passed by with random and strange trinkets. Finally, we departed in search to find the rest of the group who was expected to meet his father.

We walked through the entrance of the Ministry of Magic once again and waited for the secretary to announce his presence. She took her time noticing us, to Lucius' annoyance. After a few more minutes of waiting, she let us go up to see him.

Walking into the elevator, owls flew high around our heads with messages tied to their claws. We came upon a door with 'Abraxas Malfoy' engraved in a gold nameplate hanging on it.

Lucius knocked on the door. When no one answered, he tentatively pushed open the door, only to find an unoccupied, very large, office bedecked in black and silver.

He cursed under his breath. Apparently this wasn't the first time that his father had left without acknowledgment. He turned to us and plotted deep inside his mind.

"Who can apparate?" he asked suddenly.

"I can," I replied in a hopeful voice. I looked around and saw that only McNair and an unnameable had raised their hand.

"Okay, everyone else will arrive in the carriage at around four. McNair, you side apparate with Coddington and I'm going side apparate with Cissa," he explained in a haste.

Lucius put an arm around my shoulder and I instantly felt a pull under my navel, followed by blurred vision. Before I knew what was happening, we landed in front of Malfoy Manor, shortly followed by McNair and Coddington.

He lead us up the narrow path to his greenhouse where the party would mainly be taking place. I looked around and saw some of society's most prestigious matrons and patrons. They sat at the lace decked tables, women gabbing away at the latest gossip while men discussed politics.  
Not far off, I could see my own parents conversing with the Lestranges, our neighbors down the lane of about half a millennium. My mother was talking with Mrs. Lestrange while my father was talking with her husband with an unusually gleeful expression on his face, almost a smile. My father never smiles in public.

"Would you like to meet my father?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied a little shocked. I heard he was an intimidating man, but I had never personally met him. Of course I had seen him at my family's parties but never had I been introduced to him.

He lead me through gaggles of society women who stared after us and walked away, probably to find my mother and inquire why I was with Lucius Malfoy, of all people at his party.

We walked through corridor after corridor until we came across a massive mahogany door with ivory serpents encrusted into the handles of the door.

Lucius cautiously knocked at the door, earning a gruff 'come in' from his father sitting on the other side of the colossal door. He opened it and motioned for me to step in, and he soon followed in suit.

His father looked up from his paperwork he was working on. That's when I got a good look at him; he had blonde hair that was slightly tinted with a few silver hairs near his temples, stormy grey eyes, and a sharp, pointed face.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, curiously eyeing me over. I can only imagine what jumble of thoughts were going through that ancient head of his.

"You requested my presence to tell you who I have invited," he replied in a respectful voice.

Abraxas Malfoy nodded his head in an approving way before he continued, "And this is?"

"Narcissa Black, daughter of Cygnus and Druella nee Rosier Black," I replied in a tone matching Lucius'.

He stood from his desk and walked around to fully face us without anything obscuring his view. I lowered myself into a dangerously low curtsey. When I came back up, I held my hand out for a formal handshake. Abraxas seemed slightly taken aback before shaking my hand. Obviously, no one had ever dared request his hand in such an informal manner, nonetheless and eleven year old.

"How is school going Ms. Black?" he inquired in his normal haughty voice.

"I have adjusted just fine. Thank you for your interest," I retorted with a sincere smile.

I thought people said he was eerily imposing.

"Now, Lucius, I would like to discuss who you have invited," he said turning to Lucius. I took this as my place to exit. I bid my goodbye to Abraxas and walked passed Lucius with a reassuring smile. It seemed to take off some of the pressure from his face, though he still looked tense.

I shut the door with a quiet snap and made my way down the labyrinth of hallways. It was going fine until I came to the second floor. I looked for the staircase but couldn't find it wherever I looked.

I felt hopeless until I found a portrait of a slender blonde nonchalantly stitching a pillow. She looked serene and peaceful; I was unsure of whether I should bother her or not.

I decided to ask her since I had no chance of making it out on my own. When I walked over, she just kept on stitching and stitching until finally I had to clear my throat to catch her attention.

She looked up at me, started. I looked at her more closely and noticed that she had blue-silver eyes.  
What a beautiful combination of colors.

"I was wondering if you could direct me in the direction of the nearest staircase to the first floor," I asked in a polite manner.

"And just who are you?" she asked in a wary tone. Her eyes darted to the next portrait down the hall of a man that had a striking resemblance to Abraxas and Lucius. He must be Lucius' grandfather.

"I'm Narcissa Black. My father is Cygnus Black," I replied in the same civilized tone, my smile never faltering.

Just as I finished my thought, the man from the portrait down the hall barged into her portrait. In his haste, he nearly knocked the pillow out of her dainty hands.

"Oh, hello, Brutus," she greeted the intruding guest. He silenced her with the flick of his large hand, and proceeded with surveying me just as Abraxas had.

"Penelope, who is this?" he asked the blonde woman suddenly.

"This is Narcissa Black. Her father is Cygnus, I believe," she replied in a soft voice.

He scoffed at this, "She looks nothing like a Black. She is pale, blonde, and her eyes blue. I remember Cygnus; he resembles a Black: dark hair, dark eyes, mischievous. I do believe they had two other daughter, Bellatrix and Andromeda. I don't recall a third daughter."

"Brutus, she is indeed a Black. She just takes after her grandfather Pollux. You do remember Pollux don't you. He married Irma Crabbe. They Cygnus and Walburga," she corrected knowingly.

"Walburga, how could anyone forget her? She was always so loud but always proud enough of her blood status, I'll give her that," he returned.

I had to laugh at this; Aunt Walburga was very outspoken, preaching of blood purity. This seemed to draw their attention. They had apparently forgotten I was here since they freely conversed among themselves.

"Aunt Walburga is quite a character. Although, I really do think that she means well," I said in a pleasant voice, "and I was born 1955, only a year after Lucius was born."

"So you know Lucius?" Brutus asked in a now curious voice. It was quite a relief from his disdainful voice he had been previously using.

"Of course, I met him at the beginning of first semester at Hogwarts," I replied with my smile still, to my amazement, plastered on my face.

I was aware that it was now getting dark and the party would start wondering where Lucius had gone off to, but I went into pristine detail about what had happened to me since the beginning of Hogwarts, anyway.

"Good, that Potter boy deserved to have some sense knocked into him," he said with a quite amused expression on his face. Penelope seemed to be amused as well, but hid her smile behind her hand.

"Bellatrix said the exact same thing," I replied with a cheery tone of voice and a smile to match it.

"Narcissa, dear, don't you want to get back to the party?" Penelope asked after we lapsed into a moment of silence.

"I could stand a few more hours without listening to the mindless babble of Pureblood women talking of the newest fashion in France or whatever they talk about. I would much rather prefer to talk to interesting people, such as you two," I told them, unsettling myself from the chair I had previously made myself comfortable in.

Brutus found this comical, but Penelope seemed slightly offended by this remark.

"I'd much rather prefer talk of politics with the patrons of society," I told them honestly.

"Why is that?" Brutus asked in a dignified tone.

"Politics are interesting; they actually affect people; whereas, I would rather have crystal balls shoved down my throat than have to carry a conversation on which fabric is more extravagant, silk or chiffon," I exaggerated with wide hand motions.

Just as Penelope was going to riposte, Lucius hastened down the hall at the sound of my voice.

"There you are, Cissa. I've been looking everywhere for you," he said, catching his breath.

"Hello, Lucius," Brutus said coldly with a sneer.

"Grandfather, grandmother," Lucius replied with his own sneer and a stiff nod of the head.

"Are you still courting with that pug-faced Parkinson girl?" Penelope asked in a spiteful manner, her lip curling at the mention of the name 'Parkinson'.

"Yes, I happen to still be courting Miss Parkinson," he replied cooly.

"Well, Violet will probably be waiting for us, Lucius," I cut through the snarky comments.

Lucius started walking ahead of me in the opposite direction, discreetly motioning for me to follow. Before I followed, I commented, "Godric knows she would go into cardiac arrest if she knew we were up here alone. Well, that's a Parkinson for you, now isn't it?"

They snickered in the silence as I bid my goodbyes to the both of them and quickened my pace to catch up with Lucius.

We rejoined the party outside and tried our best to ignore the stares we received as we laughed about what I had just told him. I told him everything I had talked about with his grandparents.

"They were truly horrid when they were alive, which is why we sort of ostracized them," he replied when I finished my account of the conversation.

"They seemed lovely to me, especially your grandfather. He may be a little strong-opinioned, but he was cordial enough once he discovered I was a Black," I returned.

"Figures," was all he said before Violet's livid face came into view. Lucius made to turn away before she could see us, but I turned him around before he could go anywhere.

"The best way to handle this is to go head first into the eye of the hurricane, Lucius," I explained with a smirk.

"Fine, but you're coming with me. Just in case she kills me, I want a witness," he retorted with a grimace as we strolled over to Violet.

"Hello, Violet," Lucius said, his words dripping with honey.

"Lucius! Where have you been; no one's seen you all ni-," she started, but then her eyes rested on me, " And you're with Black again."

"Yes, Narcissa and I just went to visit my father," he replied with malice at the referral of my last name.

"Oh, look, I see my mother. Lucius, would you like to meet her since you invited me to your father?" I asked, saving him from the clutches of Violet.

"It's only fair, I suppose," he answered sarcastically.

Before Violet could utter another word, we were already walking over to where my mother stood on the arm of my father, inanely chatting with her socialite friends.

I walked in front of her gabby friends, disregarding them like Bella had taught me. They didn't say anything, just stared at my back with slight disdain.

"Mother, Father, this is Lucius Malfoy, one of my friends from Hogwarts. He graciously invited me to the party tonight," I told them chipperly.

"Nice to meet you, Mister and Misses Black. I have had the . . . pleasure to meet your eldest daughter, Bellatrix," he greeted.

"And you, young Mister Malfoy," my mother replied with a gleam in her eyes. She seemed to have immediately forgotten of her friends, now more focused on the young, blonde boy standing in front of her, standing side by side of her daughter.

The rest of the party went on without a hitch, until it was almost time to leave for the meeting. 


	7. Apparently, common sense isn't common

It was now about ten at night, but the party was still in full swing. Most of the elder couples had departed hours ago, leaving the younger, newly married couples. They were sipping goblets of firewhisky and wine, and some couples were still spinning about on the dance floor.

I could feel the cold starting to take over when Lucius came over and told me that we were going to have to leave soon.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I couldn't believe that we were going to meet him tonight!

I bid my parents adieu and found Lucius shaking hands, attempting to end the conversation. I saw him move from group to group, getting nearer and closer to the exit.

He looked to me with a pleading face that would have been humorous if he were not swarmed with hoards of women commenting on how handsome he had gotten since they had last seen him. I laughed at the thought of them pinching the pointed features of his face.

I sauntered over to him and he hooked his arm in mine as I interrupted, "Ladies, if you will excuse us, we have prior engagements to attend to, but if you're looking for someone desperate to talk to, I believe Miss Parkinson is over by her mother."

They looked at us stupidly, but we were already walking away before they had a chance to say anything.

"Thank you. I thought they were going to gab my ear off," he thanked with gratification.

We exited the gates of Malfoy Manor and apparated on the spot. We were going to be a minute or two late, but otherwise we were in good shape.

We reappeared in front of what I guessed was the Lestrange residence. It was far too dark to tell of what anything was, really.

When we walked in, we were greeted by darkness and figures dressed in black cloaks with silver masks. I made no movements against, nor did Lucius.

So these are death eaters, . . . curious.

A few candles lit as we walked across the foyer and entered a room with a large wooden table dominating most of the room's space. There were about thirty chairs positioned around the table, though most were empty. Only ten people occupied the chairs, leaving plenty of room for Lucius and I to sit.

Although, we made no move, unsure of what we should do first. Finally, Bella beckoned for us to sit down opposite her.

Across from us, we saw Bella, Rodolphus, and Evan. Further down the table was Crabbe, Goyle, and the Carrow twins. To my immediate left was Aaron and two places to my right, McNair was sitting next to Lucius.

After what seemed like eternity, the man everyone was so eagerly awaiting slithered in from a secret compartment from the wall. He had his hood over his entire profile, obscuring my view of him.

"Welcome, my fellow purebloods. I see a few familiar faces: Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Evan, McNair," he listed them off in a surprisingly nonchalant tone, "and a few new faces."

Bella was the first to stand, eccentrically anxious, "Yes, this are the Carrow twins, down there," she said pointing to the stumpy twins, "this, is Aaron Rosier, Evan's younger brother, this is Lucius Malfoy, son of Abraxas Malfoy, and this is my little sister, Narcissa," she finished, nodding her head in my direction.  
"Well, Carrows, Aaron, Lucius, Narcissa, welcome to our organization," he greeted warmly. His voice seemed vaguely familiar from somewhere.

"Tonight, we are going to discuss the rules by which the wizarding community should abide by," he went on as soon as everyone was settled in and alert.

The night went on exceedingly boring, considering what I'd heard of what they usually do on most occasions. Lucius seemed bored, also. You would never be able to tell, though; he always has a blase expression on his chiseled features.

Once the meeting was over, we all stood and walked out of the meeting room and onto the porch of the estate. We were to apparate on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

I apparated and landed directly next to an ecstatic Bella. She was all smiles, which distinctly worried me. She was never one for smiling, so to see her mouth turn into anything but a thin line or sneer was rather eye-opening.

Bella took my arm in hers and we walked back to the gates of the castle. I wasn't really how they had opened the gates without alerting Professor Dippet, but I figured I would ask later. I was too exhausted to do anything right now.

Once we were back in the common room, I plopped down unceremoniously across a plush arm chair in front of the fire. Bella and Rodolphus followed suit on the couch while McNair and Lucius fell onto a couch opposite of Bella and Rodolphus.

"So, Cissy, why were you and Malfoy late?" Bella asked in a accusatorial tone. Her forehead was set into a frown.

The rest of common room seemed interested as well and craned their necks to see what was happening between the two notorious Black sisters.

Lucius was one of the people interested in what Bella was saying, only for different reasons than the other prying ears of our Slytherin peers, I'm sure, "We were held up at the Manor because women never stop their incessant gabbing."

"Really, now?" she said, still unconvinced, "Surely society women aren't that terrible."

I had to laugh at that; Bella hated society women, with their rules and regulations and what not, "Leeches, Bella, society women are nothing more than leeches."

It was at that time that Violet Parkinson and the nonentities who were also invited to the party stormed into the room.

"Forget something at the party, Lucius?" Bella asked in a sardonic voice. That drew laughs from the older Slytherins, but Lucius and I had completely forgotten about them.

"So, where did you two go off to after you left, hmm?" Violet demanded, "after you two left, I was bombarded with queries of where you two had slunk away to! Can you even begin to contemplate how embarrassed I must have been. I had no answers to any of their questions!"

"Violet, I don't particularly care at the moment, okay? You can chew us out later, but right now, I don't feel like hearing your high pitched squeaky little voice right now or I'm going to throttle you! Understand?" I snapped.

Violet stood aghast and shocked, "I will not be talked to this way, Black!"

"Who's going to stop me? You? I highly doubt that Parkinson." I retorted with a smirk.

Bella was watching in amusement as was everyone else. I was done with being nice to this girl; if she was going to be a bitch, I was going to be a bitch back to her.

I stood from my comfortable place on the chair. I was about to walk back up the stairs when I noticed that Violet was still staring at me and everyone else was still quiet.

I riled them up, might as well give them a strong ending to the show.

"Parkinson, it's about time you found your place in society and it's certainly not above myself, so I would work on that," I said over my shoulder. I started slowly ascending the stairs to the showers.

"You're a vile beast!" she shrieked back at me.

"You're a desperate whore made out to be a pureblood wife. I'm sure you'll make a fine one, though. All you'll really have to do is spread your legs and bear heirs. I'm sure you'll have plenty of practice by the time you're married, though, so I wouldn't fret," I riposted.

I turned back to see the shocked look on her face; it was truly priceless.

"Goodnight, Bella. Thank you for inviting me to the party, Lucius. Your grandparents are very interesting, and they invited me back for conversation another day," I said and proceeded to climb to the stairs.

I took a warm shower to cool my tense nerves, shimmied into my night clothes, and padded back to the first year dorms only to find Bella waiting on my bed.

She was smiling even bigger than when we returned from the meeting, "That was just about the funniest thing I've ever seen since mother lost her temper on Avery's mother two years ago."

"Yes, well someone needed to wipe that proud smirk off of her face," I replied with a yawn. I scooted her over, so that I could lay under the duvet. I pulled my legs up to my chest in sleeping position and closed my eyes.

"No doubt she's going to owl her mother tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if she was writing the letter right now," Bella continued.

"Let her," I replied in a tired voice, "I don't really care what Mother Parkinson thinks about me, but I don't think you care either. The only person we have to worry about is mother because I think she'll go into Cardiac Arrest if she finds out what I said," I finished with a light laugh.

"Yes, well, I'm sure we'll here about it in the morning, so get a good night's sleep. Goodnight, Cissy," she said and left the room. I turned the lights off and drifted off into a well deserved sleep. 

The next morning came too quickly for my own good. The sky was still a dim blue when Bella strutted into the first year dorms and pulled my curtains back, rifling me from my sleep.

After Bella's futile attempts to rouse me from my sleep failed, she turned to the one tactic that never failed: shouting.

"CISSY, GET UP!" she wailed into my ear. I refused to give her the satisfaction of letting her see me scowl like I had done in the past.

Bella started growing impatient when suddenly she took a vase with black roses in it and poured them over my exposed face.

I flew out of bed as soon as the water's icy clutches bombarded my skin.

BELLA, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I screamed. I heard a few soft moans of protest from the girls still sleeping who were now forced to listen to Bella and I.

Bella let out a manic giggle as I chased her out of the room and down to the common room. To my surprise, students were already starting to crowd the couches even at this early in the morning.

Rodolphus was sitting on one of the couches and smirked at my appearance. Bella went to hide behind, giggling the while time, him as I followed.

"What is it that she's done to you exactly, Cissa?" he asked from his same position on the sofa. I threw him an icy glare that made him raise his hands in defense before continuing.

"She poured icy cold water on me while I was trying to sleep!" I screeched at him, "And it is freezing down here. Why do we have to be under a bloody lake?" I finished in a murmur.

Rodolphus just laughed and pulled Bella on top of him. I scowled at them both in an amused fashion as I warmed myself by the fire.

"Here," Rodolphus said as he noticed I was shivering. He handed me his thick robe, and I took it gratefully.

When I put it on, it overwhelmed by petite frame, but I was warmer than I was before, "Thank you, Rodolphus. At least someone knows how to act. You're going to have yourself a handful with this one," I said, pointing at Bella.

She just stuck out her lip in a fake pout and put on some baby doll eyes in an sad attempt to make me forget. When I said nothing, she just leaned back and lounged on the couch next Rodolphus.

Since I was already awake, I grabbed my bag by the fire and went over my essay on the history of troll wars for History of Magic. It was supposed to be at least half a roll of parchment, and mine went well beyond half the scroll, so I should in good shape.

I curled up in my chair with a pillow under my head and attempted to go back to sleep. From the silence in the common room, I concluded that Bella was doing the same.

Half an hour later, people were starting to wake and stumble down the stairs in their robes. It wasn't too long before I could see Lucius and his minions coming downstairs. Unfortunately, Violet came sauntering down the stairs after him.

"Morning, all," Violet brassily proclaimed to the common room. A few students mumbled their response, but they went unheard by Bella's comment.

"Stuff it, Parkinson. It's too early in the morning," Bella groaned as she turned to face the back of the plush sofa.

"Don't be so lazy, Bella," she replied in a nauseating innocent voice.

'Don't call me, Bella," Bella snapped with a look of malice on her face.

"Narcissa gets to! And so does Rodolphus!" she whined in her high-pitched voice that grated my ears like cheese.

"Yes, well, they're family and fiancé, now aren't they! And I really don't like you now go away," she replied in a bittersweet tone.  
"Well, good morning to everyone except Bella, then!" she said as she pulled back curtains that revealed a shimmering bright lake. We could see the fish swimming and the giant squid flow by.

"Parkinson!," I yelled in frustration, "some of us are trying to sleep."

"Well then go back upstairs," she said with a smirk.

"No, I don't think I will," I said and with a flick of my wand, the curtains were pulled back into darkness. Bella laughed as she her head fell back on her pillow again.

"Yes, because some of us want to get up and moving," she said opening the curtains again.

"Some of us can get over it, now can't they," I said closing the curtains with my wand again.

By now, people were snickering into their sleeves at the show. They were paying close attention to see if a fight would break out after what happened last night, I assume.

"Now you're just being childish, Narcissa," she said in a mocking tone that she was using just to agitate me.

"No, this is being childish," I replied and threw my pillow at her. It hit her square in the face and she fell back against the wall in shock. I closed the curtains for what I hoped would be the last time.

Bella burst into a fit of giggles, well, they were more like cackles. Still, some other people joined in eventually.

"Fine, stay here and sleep. I'm going to the Great Hall where I won't get pillows thrown at me," she shrieked in frustration.

"That's all I ask," I said turning my back to them and resting my head on the arm of the chair.

She let out an exasperated sign before stomping out of the common room and out of the dungeons.

"Peace and quiet," I mumbled to myself. It wasn't too long before Bella had to ruin my morning once again.

"No, no, no, Cissy. You're not going back to sleep, not yet," she said mischievously.

"Bella, what are you-," I started, but before I could say anything else, Rodolphus picked me up by my feet and Bella grabbed both of my wrists.

I couldn't move my feet or hands, and I was starting to get angry.

"Where are you two taking me?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"You'll find out soon enough, Cissa," Rodolphus laughed.

They dragged me out off my chair and Rodolphus' robe I had been using as a blanket fell off me. I was being dragged out of the common room and out of the dungeons.

I couldn't turn my head too much, but I could vaguely see that we were going outside.

"You never should have gone to sleep, Cissa," Rodolphus said, trying to contain his laughter.

We passed the Great Hall and heads turned towards us, but Bella and Rodolphus kept moving. Evan and Aaron got up from their seats at Slytherin table and came running after us.

"Bells, Rodolphus, where are you going with Cissa?" Evan asked in a slightly concerned voice. Aaron, on the other hand, was laughing and grabbed my left foot that Rodolphus had been holding.

"Thank you, Aaron. You are such a good friend," I said sarcastically.

We were outside now, and a burst of wind gave me a hint of where we were at, The Black Lake.

"Bella, what are you doing?" I asked in a final attempt to figure out just what she was trying to do.

"You'd think she would have figured it out by now," Rodolphus said. His face was just dancing with amusement by now.

"Okay, ready, one . . . two . . .," Bella counted down, steadily rocking my body over the edge of the clenches of the Black Lake, "THREE!"

They threw me in the water and for the second time that morning, I was freezing cold from the Black Lake's water. I surfaced after swirling in the water for a while.

I swam to the shoreline and crawled over to the sand. I flipped over on my back and curled up into a ball of freezing cloth and wily hair.

"I. AM. GOING. TO. KILL. YOU. BELLA!" I shrieked and got up ready to chase her. When I looked up, I saw that they were already running back to the castle. I picked up my speed to a dangerous level; if I were to trip, I would probably go unconscious.

"Can't kill what you can't catch, Cissy!" Bella yelled back. I burst into the door they had just closed and they were hunched over laughing, panting out of breath.

Once they saw me, they took off running with me tailing close behind. Evan burst through the doors behind me, but slipped on the trail of water I had been leaving.

"Sorry, Evan!" I called back as I kept running towards Bella and Rodolphus' fleeting figures ahead of me. They burst into the Great Hall where everyone immediately stopped.

However, Bella and Rodolphus kept running, as did I. They rounded the Slytherin table and ran straight into Crabbe and Goyle. I didn't stop running, and they saw that. They clumsily stood up and ran through a crowd of first year Gryffindors.

They shouted for them to 'watch it'. I took this opportunity to grab a goblet full of pumpkin juice and continue running. I caught up to Bella while Rodolphus kept running through a gaggle of Hufflepuffs. I threw the pumpkin juice at Bella, splattering some on the Hufflepuffs, who screamed and ran off to the girls' lavatory.

Bella slipped in the new puddle of pumpkin juice and landed straight on her arse. I ran after her and slipped in the puddle of water I was trailing, landing on top of Bella. Despite being cold, wet, and humiliated in front of all of the school, we were still laughing hysterically.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" McGonagall asked in hysterics. Just as she said that, Evan burst through the door with Aaron snickering beside him.

"Cissa, Bella, what have you two done?" he asked, amused.

Bella stood from where she had fallen and made a miraculous recovery, "I haven't the faintest idea of what you mean, Evan."

"Well, you just burst into the Great Hall being chased by your younger sister who is soaking wet," Lucius intervened, "why is she soaking wet, Bellatrix?"  
"I'm soaking wet because Bella, Rodolphus, and Aaron threw me into the Black Lake" I said with a dangerous edge directed at Bella. She started laughing again, and Lucius helped me off the ground.

I thanked him and continued, "and she poured water from a vase next to my bed on me this morning, too."

"Why?" Lucius asked curiously, though I could see a smile tinging his lips .

"Okay, yes, well, Bellatrix, take your younger sister to go dry off and see me in my office when you're done," McGonagall said in a disheveled tone, eyes wary.

"Will do, Minerva," Bella chirped happily. McGonagall gave her a stern look before walking back to the teacher's table.

Bella and I walked back to the common room - still laughing - with Evan and Aaron.

"Thank you, Aaron, for helping me with my sister," I said sarcastically and playfully punched the side of his arm.

"Anything for you, Cissa," he replied in a flippant tone, rubbing his now sore arm.

We entered the common room to find Rodolphus waiting on a sofa, smiling a cheeky smile.

"So what happened?" he asked eagerly.

"I have to go see McGonagall and possibly Dippet right about now, but I think I'm just going to stay here and see them tomorrow," Bella said in total seriousness.

"Bella, no," I told her vehemently, "this isn't just like class, you can't just skive. They're going to be waiting for you, and if you don't go, they'll come looking for you eventually."

"I guess you're right. Wish me luck," she said.

I watched as she sauntered out of the common room on her way to seal her fate.

A/N:  
Well, I don't like this chapter too much, but I needed a filler chapter before I wrote the next important chapter, so here it is.


	8. Birds of a feather flock together

I sat in the common room with Rodolphus, Evan, Aaron, and Lucius. They stared at me as soon as Bella walked out of the common room.

"Why is it that every time Bella walks out of the room, everyone stares at me?" I asked in a bemused tone.

They shrugged and all turned to look for something else constructive to do. Evan and Aaron got up and discreetly made their way out of the common room.

"We'll see you at breakfast, Cissa," Evan informed me before shutting the door with a snap.

"Rodolphus, why did you and Bella do that to me today?" I asked curiously while I played with the loose string on the end of my chair.

"Bells said something about you sneaking off with him," Rodolphus replied, pointing his thumb in Lucius' direction.

"What?" Lucius asked, shocked, "Cissa and I are just friends."

"Yeah, I told Bella that already," I told Rodolphus in an annoyed voice. I rolled my eyes and Rodolphus just shrugged.

"Well, she obviously doesn't believe you two. I'll talk to her and see if she'll lighten up," he murmured in a calm voice. It worried me; Rodolphus was never usually quiet. He was always irritatingly the exact opposite.

I tried looking into Rodolphus' eyes, but his eyes were downcast staring at the ornate rug's design patter. His face was washed over with a mixture of fear and anticipation.

"Rod, what's wrong?" I asked him, brooded. When he didn't immediately answer, I moved from my place on the chair next to him on the sofa.

He said nothing but instead pulled out a black ring box and opened it to reveal a wedding ring grand enough to make the Queen jealous.

"Rod, that's amazing! When are you going to ask her?" I squealed in excitement. Lucius looked overjoyed for his friend's news.

"Tonight, I'm going to ask her to go for a walk by the Black Lake," he mumbled, "do you think she'll accept, Cissa or am I just going to make a fool out of myself?"

"I'm positive she'll say yes, Rod! She loves you as much as you love her for Godric's sake!" I reassured. I smile and looked at the ring once more. It was exceedingly pretty: there were two stones, a large blood red ruby set in the center and a smaller black diamond set on top of the ruby. It was set on a white gold band that had the words 'amour pur' engraved in it.

We all sat back and marveled at its beauty for another good fifteen minutes, conversing what we wanted in a marriage.

"When I marry, it will be as an equal, nothing more nothing less," I told them.

Rodolphus chuckled and replied, "Taking after Bella, I see. She doesn't make it easy, but it is her that I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"That's sweet, Rod. That's the kind of relationship I want to have before I'm married. What about you, Lucius? You've been oddly quiet. Don't you want to get married?"

"Yes, but Malfoy marriages have always been arranged. He has probably already picked out my future wife, so there's no point in trying to contradict his decisions," he replied glumly.  
"That's not exactly fair. What if you find someone you really want to marry, and he doesn't approve?" I asked him. My voice came out hardly above a whisper.

"I'm not sure. My best guess would be that I would have to break it off or be disinherited," he replied. His voice sound hoarse and strained.

"Well, let's go join everyone at breakfast. I'm sure they're wondering just what happened this morning. Maybe Bella went to breakfast after she finished meeting with McGonagall," I chimed in an attempt to ease everyone's minds of stressful thinking.

I grabbed their arms and pulled them off the couch and towards the door. Finally, after relentless tugging, they submitted to joining me at breakfast. The three of us walked arm in arm, with myself in the middle, back to the Great Hall.

When we entered, most of everyone was still there, seeing as it was Sunday. Bella was among those of who stayed at Slytherin table. She broke into a smile when she saw us coming towards her. She shooed the surrounding girls away and made three spots around her available.

Rodolphus sat down next to Bella, and Lucius and I sat down across from her. We shared a knowing smile as Rodolphus asked Bella to go for a walk later tonight.

"Of course, Rod," she started, "anything to get away from all of these tarts." The girls who overheard her glared, but turned away and finished whatever session of gossip they were discussing.

"So, Bella, how much trouble did you get into?" I asked her between sips of my pumpkin juice.

"Well, McGonagall brought me to Dippet, and he said that if I screw up one more time, he would expel me," she replied in a nonchalant tone while swiping jam over her toast.

I just about spit my pumpkin juice when I heard her, "WHAT?"

She shushed me and continued, "Apparently, they heave been lenient these past years, and that they wouldn't stand for it. Everything was going fine until I started laughing when they told Phineas to inform our parents that I was on the verge of expulsion."

"What happened?" I asked eagerly.

"That drove McGonagall over the edge and she insisted that I be expelled for my 'rudeness', but good ole Phineas helped me out with that. He said that he wouldn't have it, and that he would straighten me out if I went out of line again," she finished with a smirk.

"Is that all?" I asked in shock. Her news left the tips of my fingertips numb. Sometimes Bella was overwhelming, and I had known her all my life!

"Phineas sends his greetings. He would like to talk to you sometime this week, also. I think it was something about upholding the Black tradition. He never did get to talk to Andy because of her ending up in Ravenclaw, so he is eager to meet you," she told me.

"Fine, but Bella, I swear to Merlin if you get expelled this year!" I warned her maliciously.

"Don't overwork yourself, Cissy, you have nothing to worry about," she replied lightly with the flip of her hand.

We finished breakfast discussing the upcoming Quidditch tryouts. Apparently, all of us, excluding Evan, were going to go to the tryouts this year.  
"When are tryouts?" I asked, trying to hide my keenness from the rest of the Slytherins.

I remember when I first learned to play Quidditch. I was eight years old and Sirius and Regulus had come over for a visit with their parents, my Aunt Walburga and Uncle Orion. Bella, Andromeda, Sirius, Regulus and I were outside in the infinite gardens of the House of Black. It was a bright clear day, and we were all submitted to 'play together' as my aunt had put it.

Bella, being the eldest of all of us, decided that she wanted to play Quidditch, but she and Sirius were the only two who knew how to actually play, though. We all grabbed our brooms and divided into teams: Bella and I versus Andromeda and Sirius. Bella enchanted extra brooms to fly by themselves to serve as the missing players.

Bella played chaser while I played seeker, seeing as I was the lightest. Sirius was chaser while Andromeda was their seeker. Poor Regulus was still too young to play and wandered off to bother the house elves. The game lasted three hours before I caught the snitch three hours after we started.

For the next three years, Sirius and Regulus came over once a month to play a match against us and give us pointers on how to improve our skills.

"Tryouts are this Saturday," Rodolphus answered proudly. This year, Rodolphus had made captain and was part of the team selecting the Slytherin Quidditch team. Each year, Professor Slughorn, the Quidditch captain, this year being Rodolphus, and the previous Quidditch captain from the preceding year chose the team unanimously.

"Perfect. Bella, try not to get detention this weekend," I told her. She shot me an icy glare that turned into laughter as soon as Rodolphus, Evan, and Lucius started snickering behind their hands.

"Fine, fine, I'll be the perfect little angel that everyone loves. So, where do I start? This is more of your department, Cissy," she said in all seriousness; although, I could see a glint in her eye suggesting wit was silently implied.

I said nothing, but instead merely threw my toast across the table, hitting her straight in the chest. She pretended to writhe in pain while Rodolphus was pretending to mourn his loss by weeping fake tears. Before long, they couldn't take it any longer and they burst out laughing. We received glares from Violet and her group of vile gossiping friends.

"Try to keep it down over there," one of the girls dared saying with a snarl curling on her lips. Violet smirked and looked down at us from her spot beside the girl who spoke.

"Sod off, Parkinson," Bella shouted down to her, making a move to grab her wand from the inside of her robes. Fortunately for Violet, Rodolphus stopped Bella's actions mid air and replaced Bella's anger with the contempt of Rodolphus' kissing her hand that was still trying to dart to her wand despite his efforts.

"Violet Parkinson is not worth detention and possible expulsion, Bella," Evan reminded her, miserably failing at trying to hide the amused smile that was creeping up at the sides of his mouth.

"No, but I'm sure it would wipe that proud smirk off her face once and for all, now wouldn't it, Evan?" I said with a smirk. Bella laughed and ceased her actions of trying to retrieve her wand.

"See, even Saint Cissy thinks that hexing Parkinson wouldn't be a bad thing!" she practically shrieked through bites of her tart.

"Yes, in fact, I wouldn't hesitate to consider hexing Parkinson an act of God," I responded while looking down the table at Violet. She glared at me, and I just flashed her a bright smile and gave her a little wave.

"You're asking for it, Cissa," Aaron muttered with a small grin.

"If she can bring it, I'll take it," I replied with a haughty smirk. Bella looked absolutely gleeful while Rodolphus, Evan, and Lucius all shared an amused expression on their faces.

"That sounds like a challenge," Rodolphus said.

"Yes, well I'll take care of her _after _Quidditch tryouts," I told them.

Breakfast swept by as we continued our conversation of Quidditch once again. Once breakfast was over, we all trudged back to the dungeons to scrounge the remainder of our blissful Sunday.

We all plopped down onto our spots in the Common Room and tried to figure out how to spend the remainder of this Sunday. I splayed out across my chair, resting my head on the arm rest. Bella and Rodolphus lounged on the sofa opposite of me, practically on top of each other, while Rodolphus ran his fingers through Bella's hair. Bella let out a small sigh and surprisingly made no move to stop him.

Lucius sat in the arm chair next to me, feet propped up on the ottoman in front of the fire and Evan and Aaron shared a couch and took turns jabbing each other with their feet.

All was peaceful until a second year Slytherin nonentity stormed into the Common Room crying with her clothes ripped and mascara running down her face. She subconsciously stopped when she saw us sprawled out across the Common Room. She made to move past us, sniffling the entire way, until I stopped her.

"Wait," I called out before she could make it to the staircase. She turned around cautiously to see who had called out for her to stop. Bella looked at me curiously but said nothing and made no move to stop me. I got up and made my way over to her.

"What happened?" I asked her warily; I didn't want to risk making her start crying like she so obviously already had.

"Oh, nothing. James Potter and his friends just pulled one of the stupid pranks on me again," she said, "they called themselves the Marauders."

"What did they do, exactly?" I asked her timidly. I motioned for her to sit on the empty sofa nearest the fire. She obliged conservatively. It was obvious that she was either intimidated or had the lowest self esteem I had ever seen.

She let out a big huff of breath and started, "I was walking back from breakfast when they came from behind and immobilized me. I had no idea who it was until I heard James' voice calling out for some people named 'Wormtail' and 'Moony'. Anyways, they cast some non-verbal spell that lifted me off my feet and they flung me around in the air. After awhile, they just got bored and left me hanging upside down until some Ravenclaw fifth year helped me down."

I gave an exasperated sigh before replying, "Why would they do that? Bella, any thoughts?"

Bella's head shot up and she started pacing around the Common Room, "We need to get revenge on the Gryffindors, more specifically the Marauders, but yes, we need to retaliate. They don't get the satisfaction of just being allowed to mess with a Slytherin without the consequences, especially not a second time."

"What kind of revenge did you have in mind?" Rodolphus asked from his lounging place on the sofa.

"I'm not sure yet, we'll have to come up with something by tomorrow. I don't want them to expect it, though," she replied, still pacing the room with anticipation as thoughts were whizzing through her mind. I could practically hear the imaginary cogs in her head already churning.

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked the girl who was now wiping the mascara off her face with the end of her damp sleeves.

"I'm Wilhelmina Mulciber," she replied softly, barely audible over the footsteps of Bella's inane pacing back and forth.  
"Oi! She's Mulciber's little sister. Mulciber was always talking about his younger sibling, just never told us that she was attending Hogwarts already, the git," Rodolphus muttered. Wilhelmina blushed a little at his words but otherwise stayed silent.

"You're a second year, correct?" Bella finally spoke. Her voice was harsher from the concentrating she had been through.

"Yes," she mumbled, keeping her head down and still saying solemn.

"Okay, from now on, you sit with us. As far as anyone is concerned, you're part of us now," Bella said, still thinking up ways to plot against the Gryffindors. Wilhelmina just nodded her head and made to get up. I stopped her before she could go anywhere.

"Bella, you can't just tell her what to do! Wilhelmina, do you want to sit with us?" I asked her cordially. Bella rolled her eyes before bounding up the stairs to the boy's dormitories with Rodolphus following suit.

"And Rodolphus, good luck tonight," I reminded him with a sincere smile and a wink.

"Yeah, we wish you the best of luck, you'll need it," Lucius piped in with a smirk. Once Rodolphus was out of earshot, Evan and Aaron turned to them.

"What was that about? No wonder Bella worries about you two; you're both always in cohorts with each other with secrets and what not," Evan replied surprised by the secretive outburst.

"One, Bella shouldn't worry about him because he's my best friend and Two, you'll find out what we were talking about later on tonight," I told him vehemently. He seemed to understand the initial message of what I was trying to say and left it at that.

"Back to what we were discussing before we changed subjects, Wilhelmina, are you going to be sitting with us? I think that once the 'Marauders' see that you're with us, they might back off for awhile," I told her convincingly.

"Umm, sure," she mumbled nervously. She turned and climbed the stairs to the second year girls' dormitories and shut the door with an audible click.

"Well, she sure knows how to strike up conversation," Aaron said sarcastically.

"Well, I'm going for a walk; anyone want to come?" I offered while I sauntered across the Common Room.

"No thanks, I'm going to go study for Transfiguration. That damn animagus exam is going to kill me," Evan said nonchalantly.

"I have to go finish Charms homework," Aaron said reluctantly. The two brothers strode to the stairs and parted their ways to their own dormitories.

"Well, Lucius, feel up to a walk around the Black Lake?" I asked in an almost hopeful tone.

"Sure, there is too much madness surrounding everyone down here. It seems to be blocking everybody's rational thoughts," he said, grabbing our cloaks and opened the door for me to walk through.

We walked through corridors, talking of Rodolphus and Bella's engagement before we made it outside.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" he asked me as we exited through the grand mahogany doors.

"I'm extremely confident that'll she'll accept his proposal," I answered him in a dreamy tone.

"What if she declines his proposal, though? What will happen to our group?" he asked worriedly.  
I stopped near the banks of the Black Lake and sank to the sand. I could scarcely see the sun as it was now sinking behind the mountains, now.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, "maybe we shouldn't exclude so many people from our 'network'."

"Such as?" he inquired further. His hair was blowing in rhythm with mine and the waves were sloshing to and fro to where my legs were being sprayed by the salty water of the Black Lake.

"I was thinking the sons of the major matrons and patrons of society, such as the Yaxleys, Mulcibers, Crabbes, Goyles, etc..."

"They would be a great asset for the future once we're out of school. We should start acting friendlier, I suppose," he finished with a sigh. It wasn't a haughty or conceded sigh, either. It was a sigh that only escapes one's lips when your surroundings are truly peaceful and tranquil.

"That will definitely be the hardest part, won't it?" I said, not even trying to suppress the laugh.

Lucius just laughed back and looked out towards the lake and narrowed his eyes in concentration. I looked over to where he was turned and saw what he was looking at- Bella and Rodolphus were walking on the opposite side of the lake. We could vaguely see Rodolphus setting Bella on a tree stump, and he was getting down on one knee! I heard a sharp intake of breath and a tug at my hand and was surprised to see that it had come from Lucius. Ignoring the new pressure on my hand, we continued to watch the couple before us only a mere fifty feet away.

I heard a shriek of delight and saw that Bella snatched the ring and launched herself at Rodolphus. She was laughing and Rodolphus was finally smiling after a day's worth of frowning.

"I think she said yes," I said once I was sure Bella and Rodolphus couldn't here us. They were already back on their way to the castle. Rodolphus was carrying Bella bridal style without faltering or losing any strength.

"I think she did, too. Either that or Rodolphus takes rejection very well," he joked. It certainly lightened the atmosphere.

"We better be getting back, I guess," I said after Bella and Rodolphus disappeared from my view, "if Bella finds out that we're missing, she'll never stop her assumptions. You know that, right."

"Yeah, let's get back," he replied. He unfurled his hand from mine and we slowly made our way back to the castle. We took in the scenery while we were strolling back.

Once we got back to the dungeons, we entered the Common Room that was now in full blown out party mode. There were streamers and shooters. People were passing around Firewhisky and pulling out sweets that they picked up at Honey Duke's.

Evan came running up to us once he spotted us enter, "Where have you two been? You just missed the announcement, but wait," he said, faltering over his own words, slowly coming to a conclusion, "that was the secret, wasn't it?"

"Of course, what else what it be, Evan?" Lucius interrogated, bemused.

"Oh, nothing of importance anymore, but Cissa, Bella was asking where you were," he finished with a slight smirk.

"Well, good night all," I told them, "after I congratulate Bella and Rodolphus, I'm going to catch up on some well needed sleep."

Evan had already left by the time I finished and was making his way towards the people passing around the Firewhisky.

"Goodnight, Cissa," Lucius bid me, "I'm going to go to sleep. Give Bella my congratulations for me. I'll see her in the morning."

"Okay, goodnight," I shouted over the music. I found Bella and Rodolphus snuggled together on their couch, gazing at the ring on Bella's finger.

When she saw me, she shrieked and stood from the couch, "I'M ENGAGED!"

"I know, Bella," I replied calmly, a smile breaking over my face. I had never seen Bella so happy in her life; it was certain, Bella loved Rodolphus and she was showing the whole Common Room now, if not a little too inappropriate.

Bella and Rodolphus had stumbled backwards and landed on the couch. The whole Common Room had a nice view of their little snogging now.

"Goodnight Mr. And Mrs. Lestrange," I teased, "I'll see you in the morning if you're not too hung over."

There was a jumble of noises coming from both of them that I could only take would be a 'good night'. 


	9. Eyes are the gateway to your soul

The week was anything but quiet with planning the downfall of the Marauders and Bella and Rodolphus' engagement. The only relief was that there was no homework all this week in honor of the Quidditch try outs this weekend. Everyone was abuzz with preparations for tomorrow's try outs.

Herbology had just ended and I was walking to the Great Hall for dinner with Aaron, Wilhelmina, and Lucius. While Lucius and Aaron discussed the upcoming sports event, Wilhelmina and I conversed of the plots to reek revenge on the Marauders.

Wilhelmina and I had bonded since I had seen on her on Sunday night. Since she was always shy and quiet, no one had ever noticed her, that is until she started sitting with us. She had confided in me that the Marauders had been singling her out for their pranks since last year, though no one ever noticed.

We sauntered to the end of Slytherin table, farthest away from the teacher's table, and sat down, ready to eat. I sat between Lucius and Wilhelmina while Bella and Rodolphus sat across from myself. Evan and his brother sat next to Lucius and Rodolphus.

One thing I had noticed this week that Bella was considerably happier. She no longer snapped at the younger students, well; not without reason, anyway. I did not expect her to actually wear the ring during the week and class, but she wore it with pride and smirked whenever she caught students and even some teachers marveling at it stature for such a single piece of jewelry.

"So, Cissa, have you stopped by to talk to Phineas yet?" Lucius asked just as the food appeared.

"Yes, but he was dreadfully boring, not what I would've expected of him, being family and all," I replied nonchalantly.

I had gone to see Phineas the previous day, and he was horrendously dull. He gave me a speech of how my parents were depending on me to uphold the Black traditions; meaning, I should excel in all of my classes just to flaunt my blood status, and I should leave a heavy impact on the school before I graduated six years from now.

"Was he really that bad, Cissy? When I went to meet him, he seemed worked up and lively," Bella chimed as she spooned some kind of soup or stew concoction onto her plate.

"Yes, that was because when you went to see him, you nearly got expelled because you dumped your little sister into the Black Lake, and you ran around the Great Hall during breakfast while everybody was eating," I riposted with a smirk, remembering all too well of Sunday morning.

"Yes, well, I'm excited for the try outs tomorrow," Rodolphus said, changing the subject to something everyone could discuss.

"Of course you are, Rod. You're the captain this year," I said, poking the meat on my plate before setting the fork down, unused.

Bella, Rodolphus, and Evan quickly got into a heated war of words of the latest Quidditch teams and placing bets on their favorite teams.

"You need to eat something or your stomach is going to cave in, and then what are we going to do for another chaser?" Lucius teased from next to me, joyously sipping pumpkin juice and enjoying his plate of pork.

"You know he's right, Narcissa," Wilhelmina piped in, not sure who she should really be listening and talking to.

"I know, but I'm too nervous to eat anything; I'm not fond of seeing my food twice, you know," I replied back smoothly, playing with the vegetables still on my plate.  
It went like this the rest of dinner: the older Slytherins discussed the latest news of Quidditch while Lucius and Wilhelmina tried to convince me to eat something but to no avail. By the time dinner was over, we were all scrambling to get to bed early to prepare for the harsh morning wind tomorrow morning.

We reached the Common Room and stumbled up the stairs to our dormitories. They would probably all be empty, seeing as everyone was still at the Great Hall eating dinner. I hastily took a cool shower and slipped under the chiffon covers of my bed and closed the drapes. When my head it the pillow, I was lost in a dream land of pure perfection where everything was unblemished and beautiful.

Like all good things, it didn't last long, or not as long as I wanted it to last. I awoke at six in the morning and slipped out of bed. I quickly spotted my slippers and pulled a brush through my hair, silkening it to white gold.

I walked out into the hallway and bounded down the stairs. When I was on the landing to the Common Room, I over viewed the room and saw no one else. Taking advantage of the rare solemnity of the Common Room, I shuffled over to the couch by the fire, which was still profusely raging, and lounged out across its velvety surface. Before I knew what was happening, I felt my eyelids flutter close, and I was dreaming again . . .

"Cissy," I heard distantly," Cissy, wake up, it's seven, and we all still have to get ready."

I mumbled curses under my breath and stretched out feline-like, covering the entire couch. I sighed before I reluctantly opened my eyes again.

"Well, finally," Bella grumbled incoherently as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. I scanned the Common Room for familiar faces and saw that besides Bella and I, Rodolphus, Evan, and Lucius were already up as well.

"Hey, Cissa," Rodolphus mumbled from the stairs, "what were you doing all the way down here?"

I stifled a yawn and skirted to the edge of the sofa, only to fall of the edge and fall on my back.

I moaned and moved into a sitting position. I heard Bella giggle, or what one would've taken as a giggle from someone like Bella.

"Shut it, Bella," I grumbled, irritated that I was up after such a wonderful dream.

I wonder what kind of dreams Bella has?

"Why so grumpy, Cissy?" she teased as I pulled myself up into standing position, using the couch arm as support to keep from falling again.

"Because, Bella, it's seven in the bloody morning on a Saturday," I replied in a tone that told her that that should have been obvious.

"Cissa, you better get up before Bellatrix and Rodolphus throw you into another lake," Lucius said from his chair across from the fire. At the sound of this comment, I scrambled away from my sister and across the room to hide behind Lucius.

"What are you doing?" he asked, amused.

"If they're throwing me into a lake, you're coming with me," I replied seriously; although, I could hear the laughter edging behind the words that tumbled out of my mouth. Even though the statement was rather childish, he just laughed as I moved across the room, steering him in front of me.

I looked at Bella and Rodolphus. They both had different expressions on their faces; Rodolphus, like always, was amused, but Bella, being Bella, just set her mouth into a sort of frown.  
"Come on Cissy, let's go get ready," she said, dragging me unceremoniously by my wrists upstairs into the girls' lavatories.

We dressed in emerald and silver Quidditch robes with our names etched onto the right breast of the robes. I looked at us in the mirror. If you hadn't already known, you wouldn't know we were sisters.

Bella had long, curly ringlets of ebony hair that shined midnight in the sun. Her skin was pale, but still a shade darker than mine, seeing as she took after our father more than our mother. Her eyes were hazel; although, when she was enraged to a certain extent, anyone who looked into them would swear that they turned black.

I was the complete opposite. While Bella looked fierce, I looked sweet and vulnerable. My hair cascaded like a golden waterfall down my back, stopping mid-back. My skin was pale, almost translucent if I was in bright enough light. My eyes were a deep blue with light blue specks swarmed out every now and then.

Most people believed that my mother had been unfaithful and that I was the daughter of another pureblood man. Some were even foolish enough to think that it had been Abraxas Malfoy. This was all untrue, of course. I was definitely my father's daughter, seeing as we have the same cool exterior and sense of control that one could only inherit by genetics of their parents.

"Ready to go?" she asked, still peering into the mirror. I nodded my head and followed her out of the lavatory. When we returned back to the Common Room, more students were filling the room's vacancy. Among these, was, to my chagrin, Violet Parkinson.

When she saw me, her eyes turned a frosty green and turned back around all in one motion. Bella saw this and whispered in my ear, "smart girl."

We snickered at her remark and made our way over to the boys who were now sitting patiently on the couch, awaiting our anticipated arrival.

"We're here," Bella announced and plopped down beside Rodolphus. Rodolphus put his arm around her and moved the hair out of her eyes, exposing her beautiful dark irises. He kissed the side of her face and intertwined his fingers into hers, which she responded by leaning her head on his shoulder and finishing the interlocking with their fingers.

I just stared at them and smiled while everyone else was talking amongst themselves. Bella caught me staring and raised her eyebrows a notch.

"What?" she asked barely above a whisper, as if she would scare away Rodolphus if she talked in normal decibels.

"Nothing, it's just nice to see you so relaxed, is all," I replied with another soft smile. At this, she turned her face to Rodolphus' chest, nestling her head in between his neck and shoulder.

"Have you decided on a date yet?" I asked them curiously, my voice still above a whisper. I looked around the room to see if anybody had heard me. Lately, if anyone talked of the wedding, all eyes would be on them. Luckily, it seemed no one had heard me.

"No, not yet," Rodolphus replied, absentmindedly stroking Bella's curls, "but we are hoping for an autumn wedding. We'll both be out of school, and Bella likes that the color of the abandoned leaves that fall." It was true, she did like the color of the leaves, but only because the rich burgundy and browns reminded her of blood sport.

"That would be just lovely. It would coordinate the colors of your wedding, wouldn't it? I daresay that you two won't be having a white wedding," I laughed jestingly.

"No, no. White would not become of us," Bella said still snuggled into Rodolphus' chest.

"Yes, you're more of a red and black kind of couple, aren't you?" I said while looking back and forth between Bella and Rodolphus, color schemes whirling through my mind.

"Of course, if only it were that simple. Our parents forbid Bella to wear a red gown, nonetheless black," Rodolphus said.

Bella snorted and looked up at me, "Yes, but I was hoping you would help me with that, Cissy. You see, our parents have a soft spot for you, and maybe, if you asked them, they might let me wear a red gown. I don't want to wear white or pink or whatever bloody pastel color they could think of; it would clash disastrously with our complexions, which our mother has conveniently overlooked."

"Yes, well, you know mother would not send you to your wedding looking anything but perfect, but I will try to soften her up a bit," I succumbed.

There was a loud bell and shuffling around the Common Room. I could see people throwing scarves around their necks and depositing gloves over their hands.

"Time to go, you three," Evan said, standing and helping us up.

"Alright, let's go. Good luck, Cissy," Bella said and walked away with Rodolphus out of the Common Room. I sighed and gathered my dragon hide gloves, slipping them over my dainty, pale hands.

I must've looked nervous because Lucius came up behind me and put his arm through mine, walking me to the Common Room door.

"Thank you," I gratified. I could feel my heartbeat speed up as we neared the field where Bella, Rodolphus, and many other Slytherins were eagerly awaiting the arrival of all of the judges.

"Ready?" he asked as we walked slowly onto the field. I could see Evan in the stands, sitting with some other Slytherins.

"I have no idea," I replied in a hoarse whisper. He gave me an odd look before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, but I'll be just fine," I recovered and walked onto the pitch with Lucius by my side once again.

We gathered around the trunk containing the balls. Rodolphus was standing next to it, waiting for everyone to gather around before starting. While we were waiting, I looked around to see who else was here. I saw a few third years, a fourth and fifth year, a few sparse second years, but I was the only first year.

Once everyone was gathered and ready, Rodolphus was already up in the air while Slughorn and Violet Parkinson's older brother sat at a table with parchment.

They started off with the beaters: Crabbe and Goyle, Selwyn and Yaxley, and two third year Slytherins. While watching, it was obvious that the best choice would be Selwyn and Yaxley, but Crabbe and Goyle were infinitely more intimidating.

After the beaters, they tried for the chasers. This would definitely be hard for the judges, seeing as there are three positions and eight people trying for it. We mounted our brooms and waited for further instructions. Once Rodolphus flew over, we finally claimed the sky.

At first, he just saw how fast we could fly without crashing. Of the eight of us, two crashed while turning and were hastily carried off to the Hospital Wing. This didn't seem to bother the judges, so we flew on until Rodolphus stopped us.

Next, he tested our hand eye coordination. We passed the quaffle amongst each other while Rodolphus shot stunning spells at us. In the end of this test, one of the older Slytherins were stunned, leaving Lucius, Bella, a second year named Candra, and myself.

On the last test, we had to go through and perform intricate maneuvers. The first few were simple enough, just making sharp turns and diving without falling, but they continued ascending into higher complications.

"Okay, Slytherins, last test of the day," Rodolphus announced, "after this, it'll be the seekers' turns."

I sighed and continued to listen. It was getting harder and harder and my body was almost completely rigid with soreness.

Rodolphus continued as we hovered in the air, "To finish the chaser try outs, we're going to play a practice game of quidditch with last year's team of chasers."

I could hear Lucius beside me panting hard, exasperated, "You've got to be kidding me."

"This is ridiculous, even for a Slytherin," I mumbled.

We watched as last year's chasers mounted their brooms and flew over to the opposing side of the field. They broke into playing formation, robes swirling in the whirling wind.

"Alright, let's go!" Rodolphus shouted and took his spot back on the ground at the judges' table. I could hear the Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws cheering in the stands.

The practice match was going perfect until the other Slytherin team grew rougher with their movements and attempts to steal the quaffle. Candra was about to pass the quaffle to me when as soon as the quaffle left her hand, one of the other team's buff players smashed into him, and he fell from his broom.

I watched the quaffle fly through the air, and apparently, the Slytherin who hit Candra saw the quaffle flying towards me. He was a good foot tall than me and twice my size in width. If he hit me, there would be no doubt that I would be knocked unconscious.

The quaffle was zooming nearer and nearer by the second, only it was slowly spiraling downwards as it came. The other Slytherin was already zooming after the quaffle at a dangerous speed.

A bell signaled that there were only five minutes in the practice match and we were tied one hundred fifty to one hundred fifty. If the other team got the quaffle, there was no doubt that they would score and win the practice match, which couldn't happen!

I stretched my arm out and reached downwards, sending me over my broom. I could hear Bella yell something at me, but I couldn't hear anything, just the whooshing sound as the Slytherin passed me with hardly an inch in between us.

With one hand on the quaffle and one hand firmly clutching my broom, I flung myself into a full circle, landing back on my broom. I soared over to our side of the field and passed the ball to Bella, who was now frantic with worry. She caught it and threw it through the middle hoop.

The stands roared and the ecstatic Slytherins and few Ravenclaws stood and cheered. My bones, by this point, were weeping for me to rest and my mind was pounding from the eruption of cheering and laugher. I descended and landed next to Lucius and Bella. I stepped around my broom and looked around to find Bella. I spotted her, hair in complete disarray with her eyes formed into a wild glare, shouting at the player who almost hit me.

"You bloody, oaf! You could have killed her!" I heard her scream. The player stepped back and looked at her as if she had just called him a mudblood.

"Why do you care, Bellatrix?" he asked in a deadly calm voice. He seemed to find Bella's state of madness amusing, which was evident by the gleam in his eyes.

"That's Bellatrix's youngest sister," Lucius answered as we walked over to the scene. Bella whirled around at his voice and sprinted over to us. She took hold of my face and opened my eyes wider.

"Pupils look normal," she stated as she continued the overlook of my appearance.

"Bella, what are you doing?" I managed to ask in between her prodding.

She shushed me and continued her search. She pulled up my sleeve and just about had a heart attack; there was a huge bruise on my upper arm. By now, Rodolphus had run over to see what was happening.

"Lucius, what's happening? Bella looks like she's about to hex somebody," Rodolphus said as he stepped in between Bella and me, "Bells, leave Cissa be. She's just fi-"

"Do not say that she is just fine! Look at that!" she said, pointing to the deep purple bruise on my left arm.

"Bella, it's just a bruise; The nurse can heal it in a heartbeat. It's not like he cut off my arm!" I reassured with a smile to show her it was no reason to get upset. This seemed to do the very opposite, and she flung herself at the unsuspecting Slytherin.

"Bella!" I screeched, "you're going to get yourself expelled!" I managed to pull Bella off the boy before the teachers started getting involved.

"Bells, get off Amycus!" Rodolphus yelled over the two. Bella was pointing her wand at 'Amycus' and 'Amycus' had his wand pointed right back. I had my hands covering my eyes in exasperation, but I could hear all of what was happening in extreme detail. I could hear Bella start to say a hex . . .

"Cruc-" Bella started. I snapped my head up and jumped in front of her wand, knowing she wouldn't finish the curse.

"Bella, are bloody mad?" I shrieked at her, "are you trying to get arrested?"

She stopped, chest heaving, eyes darting around to her surroundings, and she seemed to understand. She took a deep breath and stepped back from Amycus.

"You are fortunate that people were here to witness what would have been," was all she said before storming away back towards the castle without lightening her pace.

"Are you okay?" Rodolphus asked in a worried, fatherly tone. It almost made me laugh, if the situation had not been so extreme.

"Perfect, Bella just overreacted is all," I replied, pulling down my sleeve that Bella had ripped in the process of examining me.

"Now, I'm going to go find Bella. Anyone want to help me?" I asked as I dusted off my robes. I could see Evan running from the stands to get to us.

"I'll come, Cissa," Evan said once he got to us. Rodolphus and Lucius also agreed to help me look for Bella. We walked back to the castle, nodding at the rest of the judges, and continued on our way.

We searches the Great Hall, the library, the classrooms on the lower floors, and the Astronomy Tower. We finally gave up at around midnight.

"Where the bloody hell could she be?" Rodolphus said as we were walking back to the Common Room. It was well past midnight now, and the prefects were starting to roam the corridors again. The students who took Astronomy were all filing into the corridors with their star charts wearing their heavy robes, gloves, and scarves.

We finally made it down to the Common Room, but when we stepped inside, we were shocked to find Bella sitting on the couch by the sofa, wearing a particularly nasty expression on her face.

When we walked into the Common Room, she snapped her head up to look at us completely.

"Where have you been? It's nearly twelve thirty," she said calmly.

Rodolphus just gaped at her in disbelief. Finally, he choked out, "Have you been here the whole time, Bells?"

"No, I went up to the Astronomy Tower to cool off for a bit, but then I came back here," she explained. I moved to sit at my chair by the fire while Lucius, and Rodolphus sat at their usual places. Evan climbed the stairs to his dormitory.

"Cissy, did you ever get your arm healed?" Bella asked me once we were all settled in.

"No, not yet. We were out all day looking for you!" I snapped. The day's events were starting to get to me and I could feel my limbs going limp and my lids going heavy.

Bella didn't say anything, just looked at me. Finally, she said, "Well, I'm fine. We'll bring you to the infirmary tomorrow morning when you wake up to take care of your bruise."

"Fine, but no one wakes me up tomorrow. I want to sleep in without any interruptions for once," I forewarned all of them; they nodded their understanding.

"Okay, well I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Cissy, Rodolphus, Lucius," Bella said as she climbed the stairs to her dormitory.

"Something's wrong with Bella," I concluded; Rodolphus nodded his head.

"Well, we'll have to find out tomorrow because I'm going to sleep. G'night everyone," Rodolphus bid.

"Good night," I replied, settling back into the chair to relax before I went upstairs to sleep myself. 


	10. You never know how strong you are

The next morning, I awoke at nine and went to the Hospital Wing with Bella by side. Ever since the Quidditch tryouts, she has been solemn and somber.

After a quick spell, my arm returned to its natural state, and we were walking back to the Common Room. Since we were alone, I thought that this would be the perfect time to interrogate Bella about her strange behavior.

"Bella," I started tentatively in a soft voice, "is there something wrong?"

She stopped and looked at me with anguishing eyes before saying anything, "No, why do you ask?"

"Bella, don't pretend that everything's fine; it's obviously not!" I said, stopping her with a hand on the shoulder, "now tell me what's wrong. When have you ever known me to not be able to keep a secret?"

She took a deep breath and pulled me into an alcove off the main hallway. She looked around as if she expected to see someone eavesdropping on our conversation.

Before I could say anything, she mumbled something into my ear that I didn't quite hear. When she pulled back, she looked at me expectantly, watching my reaction.

"Sorry, Bella. I didn't hear you," I said. She closed her eyes and blinked a few times before attempting to continue, but before she could get a word out, Rodolphus sauntered around the corner and spotted us.

"Hey, Bells, Cissa, they just posted the Quidditch team results in the Common Room," he said, pulling our wrists in an attempt to move us.

Bella walked ahead, hear head in her palms, eyes closed, and I could've sworn I saw a tear trickle down her cheek. Something was definitely bothering her, and Rodolphus saw it, too.

He leaned over to where I was walking and whispered, "What's wrong with Bella?"

I responded, "I'm not sure. She was just about to tell me when you came around the corner. Whatever it is, it's big."

Rodolphus nodded his head in understanding and continued to walk. Once we were back in the Common Room once more, I spotted Bella looking over the sheet pinned to a cork board on the opposite side of the room. Lucius saw us walk in and made his way over to us.

"Hey, I was looking for you three. We all made it, by the way," he said mirthfully and followed our gaze over to Bella sitting on the couch, head on the arm of the sofa, staring dead on at the fire without blinking, "what's wrong with Bellatrix?"

"We don't know, but I'm about to find out," I said while walking to the sofa, sitting next to Bella, who just kept staring into the fire.

Bella, what's wrong? Even Lucius noticed that you weren't yourself," I said quietly.

No response.

"You need to tell me what's wrong." I pleaded again.

She looked at me with heavy eyes and got up from her spot on the plush couch. She walked across the Common Room and up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

I sighed but followed anyway. I walked through the hallways and opened the door to the seventh year dorms. After looking around for a minute, I found Bella in her bed, her canopy covers shielding her from eyesight.  
Sitting down on her bed beside her, I could hear her steady breathing. Anyone else would've thought that she was asleep, but I knew better; this was one of her sly tricks when she didn't want to talk to anyone. She would slow her breathing to a steady beat as if she were fast asleep. I had seen her use it many times, only on our parents and Andy, though. I couldn't help but feel a little hurt that she didn't want to talk to me.

"Bella, I know that you're not asleep," I said. She turned over to me, looking me straight into the eyes. She locked the door with the flick of her wand and sat up.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" she asked barely above a whisper.

"Of course," I reassured her, "now tell me what has been bothering you."

She closed her eyes and laid back down, "I'm pregnant."

My heart skipped a beat once I heard her. A million different thoughts were whirring through my mind before I could stop myself. What will mother and father think? What will Andy think? What will Rodolphus do? One thought in particular fell out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Are you going to keep it?" I asked in a low voice.

She sighed again, but nodded her head, "I think so, but I'm not sure. I'm going to have to think about it, and I haven't even told Rodolphus yet."

"How are you going to tell him?" I asked in a hurry.

"I don't know yet. I'm not even sure I can," she groaned into her pillow.

"You have to tell him, Bella," I told her vehemently.

"I know, I know, but we have to think about other variables in this situation, too," she replied, lifting her face from the pillow.

"Such as?" I asked, confused.

"Well, Rodolphus and I are going to be serving The Dark Lord; we can't have a child. We won't have enough time to raise it, and I'm certainly not going to go handing our pureblood child off to some common muggles anytime soon. I'd rather snog a half-blood!" she nearly shrieked as her blood started rising the more she though about it.

"Yes, well, mother and father could watch-," I started before thinking on a higher, curious note, "is it a girl or boy?"

"I haven't a clue," she replied, hands over her eyes, fingertips rubbing her temples.

I took a deep breath before starting again, "You need to tell Rodolphus."

"How am I going to tell him, Cissy?" she mumbled in despair.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met, Bella. I f you can take on Quidditch with a team full of males all by yourself, I'm damn sure you can tell your fiancé that you love very much that you're expecting."

She wiped her nose with the edge of her sleeve and stood from the bed. I followed behind her as she walked back down to the Common Room. She checked herself in a mirror on the wall, primping herself and fixing her hair, before continuing and I had to smirk at that. They say I'm the vain one?

Once we were back in the Common Room, I watched from my spot in my chair as Bella walked over to Rodolphus, who was, by now, expecting the worse.

"Rod, let's take a walk," I heard Bella say. They walked out of the Common Room with stares on their backs. Once they were no longer in sight, the overly confabulate girls stared at me expectantly.

"Back to your asinine gossip, you prying leeches. What they do is none of your bloody concern," I hissed at them. They turned back around, grumbling; whereas the boys just laughed at my words to the girls.

Lucius walked over and sat in his chair next to mine. We both stared into the fire, silent. Finally, he asked, "What was wrong with Bella?"

I sighed a sigh similar to Bella's from moments ago but replied, "Nothing was wrong with her. She's not really losing anything, more like gaining something valuable."

This seemed to confuse him, so I finally said, in an overly cheery voice, "I'm going to become an auntie."

"From Bellatrix or Andromeda?" he asked curiously.

"Bella," I sighed.

"Well, that's not too bad. At least we know that it's a pureblood baby," he said, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"I suppose that you're right. Aunt Walburga will be overjoyed, but my mother will be scandalized that she's expecting before she's even had the wedding," I babbled.

"Has she told your parents yet?" Lucius asked.

"Godric no," I said, letting out an unlady-like snort, "she wouldn't be here if they already knew she was pregnant."

Some of the boys who had laughed at the girls ambled over to where we were sitting and heard what I had said.

"What?" the leader said.

"McNair," Lucius whispered roughly, "quiet down or I'll do it for you!"

"Sorry, sorry," the one name McNair replied, scrambling over to the sofa across from us, "but is it true?"

Lucius looked at me, his eyes asking for what to say. I leaned over to Lucius and whispered, "Remember how you said that we would have to make friends with this lot eventually? Well, now's the perfect time,"

He looked at me and smirked, "How true."

Finally, we turned back to see the bemused group still standing there. I smiled and motioned for them to all sit down.

"This is Narcissa Black, Bellatrix's youngest sister," Lucius explained as they eyed me with suspicion. Smart boys.

"Cissa, this is McNair," he said, gesturing at the brunette who was sitting with a haughty expression, "the rest are Crabbe, Goyle, Dolohov, and Jugson."

I nodded my head and McNair nodded back in cordial understanding.

This was going to be the beginning of a very beneficial friendship.

It had been a week since Lucius and I had formed an alliance with McNair and his lot. I can only assume that we were all mutual friends, seeing as we hardly ever talked except at break and sparse conversations in the Common Room at night.

Ever since Rodolphus had found out that Bella was pregnant, it was always quiet. Neither had spoken for days, and I was starting to worry. Bella was always locked up in her dormitory and never came out unless necessary, meaning for class, food, and quidditch.

I was studying for Herbology and finishing my Potions assignment. I was writing six inches of information on Gillyweed when Bella trotted down the stairs.

"Hey, Cissy," Bella said as she walked down into the Common Room.

"Hi, Bella," I said slowly, closing my textbook and turning to see her. I got a good look at her; she was sickly pale, had sunken eyes, though they still sparkled magnificently, and her hair was limp and lacked its usual luster.

"What?" she asked, sitting next to me on the couch. I moved my feet over to make room for her to sit down. As soon as she did, I replied.

"You look terrible, sickly. Are you alright, Bella? You know, with that," I said, nodding my head towards her stomach. It had been two months and she still wasn't showing. If I timed it right, she wouldn't be showing until mid way through summer break.

"Actually, I feel a lot better. If I look terrible now, you should've seen me a few days ago," she replied with a small frown.

"Well, I'm happy about that," I said, smiling again, "have you told mother and father yet?"

"Of course not, but I have talked to someone else," she said giddily, "and he has the best plan!"

"Who?" I asked cautiously, "what are you thinking of doing, Bella?"

"I talked to the Dark Lord," Bella whispered and smiled feverishly.

"What?" I nearly shrieked, "why would you do that, Bella?"

"I figured that he would be able to help me hide the child until I find the right moment to tell mother and father," she said, overjoyed.

"When will the right moment be?" I asked curiously.

"I haven't decided yet," Bella admitted with a light shrug of her shoulders.

"You better hurry up and decide," I said, returning back to my Potions homework, "you only have seven more months before you'll have to tell them."

"Not necessarily," she muttered under her breath to where I barely heard her. Just barely.

I snapped my head around, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The Dark Lord may have suggested that he keep the child once its born and Rodolphus and I may have agreed," she said guiltily.

"You are not really seriously going to give up your child to the Dark Lord, Bella?" I asked  
"Well," she mumbled, "I don't know. Maybe,"

I looked at Bella, dumbstruck. Was she really going to give up her baby?

I didn't have time to reply before the bell sounded for dinner. Bella grabbed me by my arm and practically dragged me across the room and out of the Common Room.

"Come on. Let's go to dinner," she said cheerfully, "then you can tell me the plan for what you are doing with that new group of yours," she finished with a sinister smile and an evil glint in her eyes. 


	11. Hate is easy love takes courage

For the first time in a week, dinner was lively and full of conversation, from everyone from me, that is. I was still attempting to digest the fact that Bella was even considering giving up her baby to the Dark Lord. While we were walking in the hallway on our way to dinner, she confided in me that the baby was a girl.

Bella asked me to help me come up with a name. She wants it to be a fearsome name, but not fearsome enough that you would confuse her for a male.

Bella's voice snapped me back to reality, "Cissy, Cissy? Are you even listening to me?" Bella was waving her hands in front of my face in a sad attempt to snatch my attention. I had been staring at the window, consumed in my thoughts for the thousandth time that night.

"Of course I was," I replied acidly, "and just so you know, you sound like mother. All the better, you'll need practice, won't you. Then again, you might not."

Bella just gaped at me, as did the rest of the table. It was clear that the only people who knew what I actually meant were Bella, Rodolphus, and me.

"Yes, well," she replied in a tone that matched mine, "family traits are unfortunate, but you don't seem to have to worry, do you?"

She was referring to the fairness in my complexion and hair, I know it, and it was plainly obvious. It was no secret that I had insecurities about my looks compared to Bella's. Although, this was the first time that she had dragged it up in public.

The table was deathly quiet. The somberness seemed to be choking surrounding students, and they were trying to scoot away from us with frightened looks on their faces.

"So," Rodolphus said, clearing his throat, "how about we get back to the Common Room and play a few rounds of Wizard Chess?"

"No," Bella and I said at the same time, same sharpness in our voices, same sneer on our faces.

"Okay, then," he said rather uncomfortably, "why don't we go down to the lake and- "

"No, Rodolphus," I said in a clear voice, more polite than the tone I had used with Bella, "I think I'm going to go see Andy for a while. I feel like it's been ages since we've seen each other.

The look on Bella's face could only be described as full blown fury, about to erupt into something possibly lethal. Her eyes turned dark, her curls a mess around her face, sneer set on her face, lightening from the terrible weather outside framing her face from behind the window. If anyone else would have seen this face, they would have turned and run, but I was pleased with how I could enrage Bella with a few sling of certain words.

"WHAT?" she shrieked. This time, the surrounding students made no move to be discreet as they scrambled from their seats and moved to the very opposite side of the table.

"You heard me," I said, grabbing my things, "it might do me some good to be around the sane one." Without another word, I stood and walked over to the neighbor table where Andy was sitting with her friends, laughing at something her friend had just said.

Some students watched me with wary eyes as I moved closer to Ravenclaw table. I merely ignored them and continued on my way. Andy saw me coming and her smile faltered a bit, but nonetheless, she scooted over to make room for me.

"Hi, Andy," I said in a carefree manner, " how have you been since the train ride?" Andy sat rigid with her mouth open slightly.

"Fine, just fine, Cissy," she replied hastily before adding, "but what are you doing over here? Do you want to be disowned," she finished the last part in a hoarse whisper.

"Mother and Father wouldn't disown me for just sitting by my _rational _sister, now would they?" I said with the flip of my hand, " besides, Bella is being a prude. She insulted my fairness, even though she knows how much I hate it."

Andy looked around at her friends and gave them a look that said she was just as confused as they were. Her friends were looking at me with odd looks on their faces, and it was steadily making me even more uncomfortable than I already was.

"Cissy," Andy started tentatively, "are you sure there isn't something you want to tell me?"

I bit my lip in uncertainty. I really did want to tell Andy what was wrong; besides, she was our sister, she deserves the right to know that she is soon going to be an aunt, but even though I was furious with Bella, I couldn't bring myself to tell her.

"No," I mumbled, diverting my eyes, "not really."

Andy looked at me uncertainly, but dropped the matters anyway. I could tell that she knew I was lying, but instead, she said, "Okay, well, I wanted to tell you something anways."

"Yes?" I asked, sincerely curious, "It's been a while since we've really talked about anything besides that Ted Tonks boy."

"Oh," Andy said with a sneer, "then you might be disappointed to hear that I'm marrying 'that Ted Tonks boy!"

I couldn't think of anything to say to that because I had no idea how I felt about it. On one hand, I wanted Andy to be happy, but on the other hand, I didn't want her to be disowned. Eventually, all I could think of to say was, "When is the wedding?"

Andy instantly cheered up at my query. She had a hopeful gleam in her eyes that I hadn't seen for a while, certainly not anywhere around our household and family.

"Are you saying that you'll come?" she asked in a aspirant voice that made me cringe. If mother and father found out that I was to attend a wedding binding a Black daughter to a muggleborn Hufflepuff, who knew what they would do! I could only imagine what Bella, who was now inquisitively staring at me from her spot at the Slytherin table across the room, would do if she even got a whim of a word of what I was about to do.

"I suppose so," I replied lightly, "how could I miss it?" Andy squealed and her friends looked at me, gobsmacked, as if I had just agreed to killing the minister.

"But Andy," I said, interrupting her moment of joy, "you can't breathe a word of this to anyone."

She looked at me with questioning eyes before speaking, her brunette hair held tight in the headband I had bought her as a Christmas present two years, "Why not?" she asked in a hurt voice.

"Well, you like to see me living, don't you?" I snapped back quickly.

"Of course," she mumbled as the other girls laughed. If they thought I was joking, then they were more daft at the how rigorous the world of Pureblood supremacy was than I originally thought.

"Okay, then. Well," I started dramatically, "I'll go back to the Slytherin table and pretend I am disgusted at how you can possibly stand this unworthy filth."

Andy just laughed and waved goodbye. Her friends looked slightly offended, but as soon as I got up to walk back to my house table, I could hear her assuring them that I was only kidding , mostly.

As soon as I sat down, I was pelted with glares only from Bella. Nobody else even dared to look in my direction except for my best friends, Lucius and Wilhelmina, of course.

"So," Bella said slowly, like a tiger cornering its prey, "what did the blood traitor have to say, hmm?"

"Well," I started, "our sister said that she does not intend to stop her relationship with the scum, so I left." If anything, Bella should have known that I was lying, every Black could, and convincingly at that.

Bella seemed to cheer up instantly. Seeing this, I continued, "Try not to stress yourself out too much, Bella. It's not healthy."

She picked up on what I was referring to and responded with a slight gesture of her hand, "You needn't worry about my well being. I can take care of myself. _All of myself_."

"You better," I said in a warning tone. She narrowed her eyes but said nothing more.

The rest of dinner, like always, went by cheerfully. There was no more talk of Andromeda or Bella's baby, and Bella, knowing that everyone sitting around us had left, formally announced that she was definitely having a baby girl. Before any other queries were made, we stood and walked out of the Great Hall.

The five of us were discussing names for Bella's baby, but the best name we could come up with was Evianna and Arabella, which she despised for lack of astrological origins. While walking, I had the vaguest feeling that we were being followed but soon squashed the theory and continued walking.

"Well, Bella, what do you propose we name her?" I asked once we were back in the Common Room. The only Slytherins left in sight were McNair with his minions and Violet Parkinson's gaggle of girl followers, only without their terrifying leader.

"I don't know! I don't particularly care as long as it's a good, strong name that will scare off all of the mudbloods," she said menacingly.

"Of course, only Bella could want her baby's mere name to make the mudbloods run in fright. Sometimes I wonder if you have a single maternal bone in your muggle-killing body," I said.

Rodolphus and Lucius chuckled as we assumed our spots in front of the green-tinted fire. I glanced over to see Violet watching us with narrowed eyes.

"Don't look now," Bella murmured from her comfortable spot on the couch, "but it looks like a hawk is about to swoop down and devour us."

I giggled and turned to see a Violet, a sinister smile creeping onto her face as she turned and whispered something into one her leech's ears that made her gasp and stare wide-eyed and point in our direction.

Everyone noticed this and were soon staring to see what the girl was pointing at. Just as she was about to open her mouth, I remembered my premonition-like feeling that someone was following us in the corridors walking back from dinner. Violet must have followed us down to the Common Room, which meant that she had heard all of the baby talk.

I could almost hear the accusatory words that were about to drop out of her mouth. Before I could stop myself, I grabbed my wand and shot the first spell that I could think of.

She stopped her almost-sentence when a row of black thread started stitching itself across her mouth, blocking out any of the noise that was about to be said. I had once seen Bella use this spell on Andy when I was much younger. I was almost shocked that I had remembered it all these years.

Muffled sounds were the only noise filling the Common Room before everyone snapped back to their senses. The reasonable Slytherins were laughing at the display before them, but the rest of Violet's followers and a few stray Slytherins just glared at me with their mouths agape.

Violet was the first to break the silence. "What have you done to her?" she sputtered incoherently. I hadn't the slightest idea of what I had actually done, only glad that I'd done it.

"Well," Bella said, a triumphant smirk splashed all across her dark features, "I do believe my little sister has just sewn her mouth shut and just in time, too. She may have said something she would've regretted."

At the last comment, the girl's eyes widened enormously and she started futilely attempting to pull on the thread out of her mouth.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Montague," Bella warned with amusement dripping in her voice, "you could do some fatal permanent damage. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

The girl shook her head and continued to stare straight into Bella's dark brown pupils.

"Let's go to the Hospital Wing," Bella suggested demandingly, "We'll have lots to talk about on the way."

Bella stood and walked over to the girl she had called 'Montague' and gripped the girl by her shoulders, hoisting her out of the desk she had been sitting at.

They headed for the door when I called, "Don't hurt her, Bella."

Bella just shook her hand in a dismissive manner without turning around and said, "Of course not! We're just going to have a little talk."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and looked back over at Violet, who was now seething with anger and fury. Her eyes were still narrowed into a glare and here left hand was twitching a bit, which, of course, made me giggle.

"You shouldn't frown so much, Parkinson," Rodolphus said, unmoved by her expression, "you might get frown lines, and then who would want to marry you anymore?"

At this, she immediately returned her neutral expression, her eyes, which had turned considerably darker, the only sign that she was still infuriated.

For the next hour, no one said anything, just glared at each other from across the room: Violet at me, Violet's followers at Rodolphus, Lucius, and Wilhelmina. The remaining students decidedly picked a side and glared at the opposition.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Bella, who wore a triumphant/amused look, returned with the Montague girl, who was now a sickly pale color.

Montague scuttled over to where Violet was sitting and sat down beside her with odd wariness, as if she might hurt herself using regular effort. I finally decided that it must've been Bella's doing, or that girl was just a dimbo.

Weeks passed by quickly as the year was reaching its end. There was only a month and a half before school would end and summer would begin.

Everyone was busy studying for the end of the year finals and preparing for the end of Quidditch season. So far, Slytherin hadn't lost a game yet, but there were still two more games left, and Gryffindor was on the same winning streak.

All the while, the Dark Lord was becoming more known by the day with raids and murders. It seemed that not a day could pass by without another mysterious disappearance or brutal murder.

We were all sitting at dinner, discussing the usual quidditch strategies, Gryffindor-biased teachers, and the plans of the Dark Lord.

"Now what are we going to do?" Rodolphus asked once things quieted down and we started eating dessert.

"What do you mean what are we going to do?" Evan queried, setting his pumpkin juice back on the table.

"This is Bella's and my last year at Hogwarts and nothing considerably interesting has happened!" he said in frustration.

This really made us think, which quieted us for all of a minute. Finally, I said, "Well, what about your engagement? I wouldn't consider that forgettable in the least, Rod."

"Rodolphus is right, Cissy. We need to do something that will make this year memorable, if just for our sake," Bella said at last.

"What do you propose you do?" Lucius asked from beside me.

"That is the only problem. What are we going to do?" Rodolphus mused.

"We could always strike down a Gryffindor," Bella suggested with a smile consisting of malice and keenness.

"No, Bella," I said softly, "I'd rather you not be remembered for being the youngest students ever to be sentenced to Azkaban."

Bella laughed but soon stopped when someone walked over to our table. I turned and saw that Andy was standing behind me, looking rather elated.

"What do you want, Blood Traitor?" Bella hissed from across the table, her features squinched up in anger at the site of her.

"I need to talk with Cissy, Bellatrix," Andy replied coolly.

Bella looked like she was about to riposte, but I cut her off, "Okay, Andy. I'll be right there. Just give me a minute."

Andy nodded her understanding and walked back to Ravenclaw table and sat expectantly. I turned back to Bella, who looked absolutely livid. No one else would dare meet her eye, just in case she decided to pin her rage on anyone besides me.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing with our blood traitor sister, Cissy?" she nearly shrieked. We received a few glares from the other tables but ignored them.

"Stop calling her that, Bella! She's still our sister, regardless who she happens to cohort with," I replied as I stood.

I didn't hear Bella's response because I had already walked over to Ravenclaw table where Andy was still patiently waiting for my arrival.

I sat down beside her and listened intently to what she had to say. It had better be good considering how peeved Bella was steadily becoming with me.

"Cissy," she started, "we need to discuss the details of my wedding."

I sighed, but said, "Have you even chosen a wedding date, or a venue, invitations, guests, cake, flowers?"

She seemed to falter a bit, "No, but we're not going to need all of that."

"Andy," I said tentatively, "how are you going to have a wedding without invitations, guests, and whatnot?"

"Simple," she replied lightly, "we're going to elope this summer, right before school starts again, but I still need a few witnesses and the Maid of Honor."

This seemed to make more sense to me. I had always wondered how she was going to pull off marrying a muggleborn, but I never thought that she would be brash enough to elope.

"If you just needed a Maid of Honor, why didn't you just ask Bella?" I joked in good humor.

"I need a Maid of Honor, not a Maid of Horror," she laughed, "and I don't want to marry a corpse."

I laughed but stopped when I realized that it was true. Bella was graduating this year and would do as she pleased. If that involved killing Andy's muggleborn husband, she would do it.

"The wedding is going to be at Ted's parents' house," she said after my lapse of thinking.

The wedding was going to be at Ted's parents' house? Where was that and would anyone be able to see me there?

As if she were reading my thoughts, Andy said, "It's in Wales where no one can find us. After that, we're going to graduate and move to Ireland."

"Okay," I replied, "if that's all, I should probably go."

"Go ahead, but I probably won't be able to see you until the wedding," she said regretfully.

She gave me a quick hug before I left to go back to Slytherin table. I stopped half way before I reached my destination. Did I really want to go back to the table and be interrogated by Bella about what Andy and I discussed- again, did I?

Deciding to avoid numerous question propelled by anger and curiosity, I turned and walked out of the Great Hall, walking down to the Common Room.

Once I was there, I curled up in my chair, which was surprisingly warm even though it hadn't been occupied in hours. I looked out the window and saw that it was a coldly clear night, where only the moon and stars were visible. At the sight of this, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Hours later, I felt a hand on my arm, nudging me awake. I groaned and opened my eyes to slits and saw that Lucius was trying to rouse me out of my sleep.

"Wake up, Cissa," he whispered quietly.

I sat up into a sitting position and looked around the Common Room. It was deathly empty and the fire was starting to sizzle to an end. I looked at the clock and it read

12:03 AM

"You came back here and fell asleep," he said, almost amused.

"Obviously," I said as I stood and straightened my clothes, but then something seemed off about this situation, "What are you doing down here this late, anyway?"

"There is a meeting tonight," Lucius replied, "and we are about to leave. Rodolphus asked me to wake you, so we won't be late."

"Oh," I said, "thanks."

"Your welcome," he said, "now come on, before we're late."

He pulled me up the stairs and ushered me into the boys' seventh year dormitories, the place we've been using as a departing point.

We walked into the room and I saw Bella, Rodolphus, Evan, and a few other Slytherins I vaguely recognized already here, waiting for us.

"Finally, they're here!" Bella said, pulling out a mirror. This time when she spoke, it was into the mirror, "We're on our way My Lord."

There was a muffled response, and Bella pulled out another object, this time a necklace.

"What's that?" I asked in a whisper to Lucius, who was still standing at my side.

"That's our port key," he replied, walking us over to where the group was still waiting.

"Sleep well, Cissa?" Rodolphus asked jestingly. Bella just looked at me with a disapproving look on her face.

I smiled at him and replied, "Of course, it was free of mudbloods."

The sides of Bella's mouth upturned into an almost smile and she moved over to my side and prepped us on how to use the port key.

Once she was done, we all took a part of the necklace and waited. Almost immediately, our feet left the ground and we were spinning in the cold night's air. It was almost like apparating, only slightly less painful.

After a few moments of spinning, our feet touched the ground with a thud, and we were standing in front of Riddle Manor in all of its gloominess.

We walked into its foyer and waited to be directed into the main living room. I looked around while we were waiting. It was covered with pictures of legendary Purebloods. Under their picture was a biography-like plaque.

My eyes were scanning over pictures of the inventor of the first broom when a masked and robed man stalked into the room, beckoning us into the meeting room.

We took our designated seats that we'd had the night of our first meeting and stayed quiet until the Dark Lord came into the room. He still hadn't shown us his face but his voice was oddly familiar.

"Tonight, my dear death eaters, we are going to discuss plans for the downfall of the ministry- ," was all I heard from the Dark Lord before I zoned out. Lately, we had been planning and plotting. It was becoming aggravatingly repetitive.

I felt a jut in my side as Lucius elbowed me. Apparently, a question had been directed at me while I was still stuck in my reverie.

"Well?" Bella prompted gleefully.

"What?" I asked distractedly, "I'm sorry I didn't hear the question." Everyone's eyes were all staring at me, and it made me want to shift in my seat, but I was able to restrain myself.

Thankfully, Rodolphus was the once to answer instead of the Dark Lord, his voice did frighten me a bit. "The Dark Lord was wondering if you were interested in becoming a death eater once you graduated since Bella plans on doing so."

Oh Godric; not this again!

I gave a nervous cough and said, "No, not exactly."

The longer everyone stared at me, the more nervous I became, especially under the Dark Lord's penetrating stare.

"And why would that be, Miss Black?" the Dark Lord asked from his spot at the head of the table. I turned to look at him and then the death eaters that were still awaiting my explanation.

Finally, I put my words together to make an intelligent statement, "I feel that as a Pureblood, my future is more inclined to marrying a Pureblood man and raising untainted children."

The Dark Lord contemplated what I had said for a while before saying, "Is that all you think you are capable of doing, Narcissa?"

"No, my Lord, but that was what I was raised to believe," I replied meekly.

"Is that what you always intended to do?" he asked, stunned that the sister of Bellatrix was going to grow to be a regular house wife.

"Yes, but I did, however, plan to help the cause in whatever way I could, wether it be to retrieve information or actually fight, just not as an official death eater," I replied in the strongest voice I could muster.

"I see," he mulled in thought.

There was no more discussion involving myself for the rest of the night; although, Bella seemed to be absolutely pleased with my answer, and as a result, for the rest of the meeting, she was never without a smile, even on the subject of torture and murder.

As soon as the meeting was over, we all used the port key to return to the boys' dormitory. Seeing as most of all the seventh year boys were death eaters, we needn't be quiet until we left and went back to our dormitories.

Once I reached my dormitory, I opened the door and snuck back to my own bed. I fell back against the duvet in an unceremonious flop, seeing as no one was awake to criticize.

I was sleeping before I knew it and should've known that it wouldn't last long. At promptly six in the morning, only three hours after we returned, I was awake, once again, to prepare for another day of classes.

I dressed quickly, pulled a brush through my hair, and stumbled downstairs to see Bella and the rest of the Elite waiting downstairs already.

"Hey Cissy," Bella yawned and put her arm through mine, dragging me down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Everyone was already at breakfast and consumed in early morning conversation. Tons of owls were swooping down and delivering post.

We sat down and began devouring the food in front of us. I surveyed all my friends surrounding me: they were all tired, which was evident by the slightly purple circles under their eyes, yawning, and had a glazed look in their eyes.

Bella, however, was chipper, which, on Bella, looked sinister. She was humming and joyously sipping her pumpkin juice at the same time.

"Bella," Rodolphus started, "why so excited?"

"Not excited, Rod," she replied, "just, happy."

We were all dumbfounded. Bella is hardly ever happy, unless with the Dark Lord or torturing the inferior.

"Why?" Evan queried with a following yawn.

"Read the letter I just got," was all she said before shoving a piece of parchment in front of us.


	12. Your friend is the one who knows you

"_Read the letter I just got," was all she said before shoving a piece of parchment in front of us. _

I was the first to snatch the letter from Bella's delirious state. The stationary was all too familiar- the Black Family crest with our mother's name under it in violet. I could smell the hint of rosemary she added with all of her letters.

"It's from mother," I said aloud, simultaneously glancing at the people surrounding me.

"What does it say, Cissa?" Wilhelmina prompted eagerly in anticipation. I could feel all of their stares on me, similar to the stares from the previous Death Eater meeting, only increasing my nerves.

_To my Dearest Daughters, Bellatrix and Narcissa, _

_I know it has been dreadfully long since I have last written, but I feel that there is something you should know before you return home for the summer. Last night, I received news that Andromeda has been courting a mudblood. Usually, I would not have believed such a ludicrous statement, but I owled Andromeda herself and she confirmed that she, in fact, was courting scum and planned on marrying it! I have also heard that she is carrying his mudblood child, as well. This summer, she is going to be legally disowned, but until then, she is strictly ostracized from the Pureblood Society. I trust that you two will not speak a word of this to anyone until we can think of a story for her disownment. It is expected that you are not to make any unnecessary contact with Andromeda considering the circumstances. You r father sends his best._

_With all of my love,_

_Your mother, Druella Black ne__ེ __Rosier _

As soon as I finished the letter, my body went numb and the voices around me became slurred. There was a light buzzing in the back of my head, but I hardly noticed any of this because I was too consumed in my thoughts to notice anything around or concerning me.

_Just who tipped off my mother that Andy was courting Ted Tonks and how would they know? Why would they care? How would it affect them, but most of all, how could Andy not have told me she was expecting?_

"How cheerful," Evan mumbled sarcastically.

"How could this have happened?" Rodolphus asked as he set the letter back in its envelope. He didn't look as near as elated as Bella was, but then again, when it came to Andy, Bella was always sadistic and cruel in judgement.

"I haven't a clue," I whispered hoarsely. I felt my eyes start tearing up and the burn behind them that came right before tears.

"You okay, Cissa?" Lucius asked in a concerned voice. Rodolphus, Bella, Evan, and Wilhelmina quickly turned to see what was wrong just as a tear splashed down my cheek.

"Cissy, why aren't you euphoric? This is a cause for celebration!" Bella said excitedly. She was still lighthearted about Andy's disownment, which only made the second tear trickle down faster than the first.

"This isn't a good thing, Bella," I mumbled once I finally regained my senses. I turned around to look and see if I could find Andy and sort this mess out, but soon decided against it. What could she do, really? She was technically no longer family and would only talk of how old family traditions are hardly ever overlooked, how this was not in any way unexpected, but how she had anticipated their actions and had already told me.

I saw Andy, laughing as always, with her friends and not at all as distraught as I was. She turned to look at me and her brow immediately furrowed and her mouth twisted into a deep frown of concern. I felt another tear drip down my face but didn't bother to wipe it away.

"It's tradition!" Bella exclaimed from across the table, "it has happened many times across Pureblood family trees. If a branch gets infected with scum and bacteria, you simply snip it from- "

"Enough, Bella!" I yelled from across the table, "Yes, it has happened many times across our family tree, but it is nothing to celebrate! Andy might as well be dead because we'll never get to see her again; we should be in mourning. Once again, this is _not _a good thing!"

"I understand that, Cissy," Bella said softly, almost sympathetically, "but I need to know that you understand why this happened, though. That it's the right thing to do._"_

"It's not the _right _thing to do, but it is the most humane thing to do. I suppose if she wasn't disowned, someone might've killed her instead," I mulled over in thought.If her disownment didn't happen, Andromeda might have a fatal 'accident' that would justify her removal from the Black family tree for a reason that her mother would describe to the Prophet as 'over-emotional actions'. The more I thought about her disownment, the less worse it sounded, but I was still hurt.

"Will you go see the child?" Wilhelmina asked me in a whisper to my ear. Her tone wasn't judgmental, but one of understanding of the situation, and it reminded me of the second surprise of the letter.

"I don't see how I can, but if I can, I will," I whispered back, "I'm promising myself, right now, to not lose the connection between Andy and me."

She nodded her head discreetly as Rodolphus offhandedlychanged the subject, as he usually did when he sensed an uncomfortable silence approaching.

The rest of the week was stuporous and the end of the year exams were no longer occupying my mind, but instead of the thought of never seeing Andy and her unborn child without being expatriated like Andy and Ted would soon be.

"You ready to go?" Wilhelmina asked me from the opposite side of the door of the first year girls' dormitory.

We were planning to go down to the lake and try to resuscitate the playfulness of the end of the year. With only three weeks of Hogwarts left until the next year, everyone, excluding most of all Slytherins for no other reason than they just aren't cheerful enthusiasts, everyone was in a jubilant mood, even teachers; we hadn't had homework all week, despite the upcoming exams that flabbergasted most everyone with its intensity.

"Of course," I said, slipping quietly out of the door, careful not to spark the interest of any attention-seeking, first year peers of mine.

We stealthily slipped down the stairs and out of the Common Room, which was surprisingly empty for a Saturday morning. Walking the corridors slowly at a comfortable pace, we made light conversation, mostly of the latest weather and quidditch scores with the burning torches' glow of warmth in the coldest part of the castle.

Once we made it down to the lake, we sat down under the shield of willow trees that shadowed the lake, illuminating the trunks with a greenish luminance.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; this was the most peace I'd had all week, considering the recent events. I could hear the leaves rustle from the neighboring trees in the forest, could smell the scent of smoke from the gamekeeper's cottage just a mile to our right, could feel the soft blades of grass gently bend beneath the pads of my fingers and palms. At this, I laid on my back, hands behind my head, not bothering to reopen my eyes.

"You know," Wilhelmina started, "I understand your situation."

I popped my head up and put my weight on my elbows as I took in the sight of Wilhelmina. We hadn't really talked since Sunday night at dinner, but looking at her now, she was different. She was sitting with her legs crossed and elbows on her knees, hands rested on her outer face, looking out over the lake, not even looking back at me as she talked.

"What do you mean?" I asked in response.

"I know what it's like," she replied, "to have someone you're close to be cut from your life."

I didn't know how to react to this. At dinner on Sunday when she'd said that she understood, I never thought in depth of how she did, I just accepted it, enjoying that someone knew and wasn't judging.

"Who?" was all I could manage, but inside I was screaming to know the answer. Who was the person that could've possibly made Wilhelmina the way she was now: so quiet, so solemn, so unnoticeable that even her fellow Slytherins had overlooked her?

"My sister," she said, "she was disowned for something so feebleminded: giving charity to a muggle couple off of the street. Apparently, my parents thought that it was an act of social treason."

"Do you still keep in contact?" I probed even further.

"No," she replied meekly, "At the time I was only four, but I was raised to believe that she was no better than a mudblood for what she had done. And every day I regret it."

I couldn't help but feel a tinge of sympathy for her. It also made me worry how distant Andy and I would become after she moved to Ireland.

"What about your brother," I asked, "does he still keep in contact with her, or does he agree with your parents?"

"No," she said, "we could never find her, but we know that she is somewhere in the heart of Ukraine. We'll sometimes receive Christmas cards, but for the most part, we're completely in the dark."

"That's terrible," I told her solemnly.

The more I discovered about Wilhelmina, the more I understood her attitude and need for solitude. She thought that if she never got close to anyone, she could never get hurt again, even if that meant that she was to be invisible and endure day to day torture by the Gryffindors' feeble endeavors to keep her miserable.

"That, Cissa, is life," she replied softly, promoting her intention with a long, drawn-out sigh of contempt.

"If that's life," I said, "then why does everybody fight to keep their's if its full of unbearable hardships?"

"Don't be so pessimistic. I do remember some memories of her, though," Wilhelmina said, "I remember that every Christmas up until her disownment, us three children were granted responsibility of decorations. We would spend hours decorating all of the trees until there wasn't a speck of green left and hanging mistle toe on every vertices in the manor."

"That's nice," I said, imagining the smell of wintergreen and cinnamon, "we've never done anything like that. The elves usually decorate everything. We only make minor tweaks to give it our own personality, but I guess we'll be one personality short this year."

"Yes, well now our manor is scarcely ever decorated apart from the ten foot Christmas tree that is covered in expensive ornaments that the elves put on themselves. When we decorated, everything was personal, but now everything is just used to impress significant figures of society. I'd rather die than go back home this December and find that damned lofty tree assembled in the dining room surrounded by too many people I don't know by either name or face."

"Now who's being pessimistic?' I laughed. Wilhelmina lips' upturned into an almost smile, spreading relief through my body. If I could still make her laugh, everything would be fine.

"Would you mind if I stayed with you all this Christmas?" she queried desperately. I looked at her dead in the eyes, seeing nothing but desperation commingled with sorrow.

"Of course you can," I replied, "with Bella moving to Lestrange Manor this summer, it will be nice to have some company besides the house elves."

"It's a plan, then," she stated cheerfully.

We both smiled as we stood and made for the castle. The morning was already turning to midday, and it made me wonder how long we had talked. I could feel the sudden shift in temperature from cool to uncomfortably warm. The quiet morning buzz of the forest was gone but replaced with no motion at all, due to the symphony of cacophony straying from inside the castle's walls signaling that lunch was already prepared.

"We better get going if we're going to eat lunch," Wilhelmina said, taking the first step into the castle's protective interior.

"That's okay," I told her indisputably, "I'm not that hungry. I'm going to go study for exams in the library." I took my steps into the opposite direction as if to prove my point.

"If you're sure," she said uncertainly, "I'll meet you there later."

I answered with a scant nod of my head and continued walking on my way to the library. The corridors were empty and the only noise was the lonesome steps of my progress. This was the only sound ricocheting off of the walls up until the last minute of my venture.

I heard the clang of metal and a crash deafening through the corridor up ahead, followed by a few cackles. Hastening, I quickened my pace to see what all of the tumult was.

When I turned the corner, I saw Potter and his gang of friends charming the suits of armor into doing all sorts of tricks. He was currently trying to make this suit of armor dance some sort of ridiculous jig. They had just finished laughing when they saw me watching them.

"Look who it is, boys," Potter said, "Ice Princess."

"Potter," I said curtly. I tried to walk pass him, but he grabbed my wrist, stopping me from the path of my intended destination.

"We didn't say you could go yet," he stated almost menacingly... almost.

"I didn't ask you permission," I replied coolly, looking down at my wrist he still grasped in his challenging hand, "now would you let my wrist go, so I can continue on my way to the library?"

"No," he said, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I do," a new voice answered.

A green spell whirled right next to Potter's head, nearly hitting him. We both looked at the origin of the spell and saw Bella standing there looking tempestuous; however much she'd seen, she hadn't liked.

Potter smiled and gave her his full attention, "Hello, Black."

Bella smirked, "Potter."

There was a lapse of silence, and during that staidness, I could hear both of their hearts beating wildly in anticipation of the inevitable. I could hear my own heart beating so fast, I'm surprised that it didn't erupt from my chest. I could feel sweat starting to bead up from where his hand was still clutching my wrist.

In one quick motion, he flung me against a wall and drew his wand, as did she. Fusillades of hexes were thrown between the two. All Potter's friends and I could do was watch. Not one of us dared to step in between the two, in case they didn't stop for bystanders.

I knew Bella would win over Potter, no matter how much faith Potter's friends had in him. Bella was a 7th year and Potter was only a 2nd year, Potter specialized in defense while Bella plunged into the Dark Arts, Bella moved with ease and experience while Potter struggled to just keep up. The winner was obvious from the beginning.

With one last hex from Bella, the fight was over shortly after it started. It's not to say that Potter didn't put up a good fight, which he did, but Bella was just too much, and he was thrown back against the stone wall, shattering a torch holder and catching the back of his cloak aflame.

While Potter's friends worked to put out his cloak, I inspected Bella: a gash across her right cheek from a potshot spell, but otherwise unharmed.

Hurried footsteps could be heard from somewhere above us, followed by frantic voices of students and teachers who had just finished lunch and had probably heard the conflict.

"He's not waking up," Pettigrew said from his position next to Potter.

I looked over and saw Pettigrew and Lupin hunched and kneeled over Potter. Potter looked like he'd been through a hurricane: his face was cut under his lip, on the bridge of his nose, and the longest one was across the entirety of his forehead, somewhere near his stomach he was bleeding freely, and his whole back, now exposed, was blackened from soot and what wasn't covered in smokey ebony, an angry crimson color was spreading from where the fire had licked his body.

"Bella," I said exasperatedly, "what have you done to him?"

Bella threw a glance at Potter's disheveled body and shrugged her shoulders without any words of consolation for Potter and his friends.

The footsteps grew closer as professors and students congested the corridors, swarming around the scene before them: an unconscious Potter, surrounded by his distressed friends and both Black sisters unharmed, for the most part.

I put my hand over my face and began rubbing my temples, "I just wanted to go to the library, for Godric's sake! Was that too much to ask?"

I looked back up at the crowd of gobsmacked first years and saw Rodolphus towering over them, trying to get to where Bella and I were standing.

Professor Dippet approached us, scouring through the flock of students, with the teachers trailing behind him. Once he finally broke free of the ocean of students, he checked over Potter with the school healer.

"He's got a broken nose, three cracked ribs, and his full back is covered in patches of third-degree burns that need immediate treatment. If he doesn't get treated in the next three hours, he might permanently lose all the feeling in his back and upper neck," the healer announced.

"Thank you, Rosemary. If you would bring him to St. Mungo's immediately," Dippet replied, taking one last woeful look at Potter before he was carried off through the crowd.

"Now," Dippet said, casting his eyes once more over the expectant crowd, "which one of you would like to attempt to explain what has happened here this evening?" His eyes washed over Bella, Pettigrew, Lupin, and me.

When no one stepped forward to recount what had happened, he said, "Alright then, another time. I will give you four three hours to come forward. After then, if one of you have not come forward, I will send a note to each of your parents and let them decide what to do with you, and you will all be suspended." Without another word, he walked back to the waiting teachers, signaling for them to send the students back to their houses.

Once everyone was gone, Pettigrew exclaimed, "Why didn't you two say anything?" Truthfully, I'm not sure why I hadn't said anything in front of the Headmaster. The roof of my mouth was dry and the back of my throat was throbbing immensely.

"Why didn't you two say anything?" Bella challenged, "he's your pathetic best friend and probably expected you two to be his saviors, or at least explain the situation, and you couldn't even do that."

"If you hadn't attacked him," Lupin countered, "none of that would have been necessary!"

"Odds are it would've happened eventually," Bella smiled fiercely.

"You're a bloody loon, you know that?" Lupin said, still in a state of shock from watching his best friend being hauled off to St. Mungo's, "You're the one who should be going to St. Mungo's; maybe then you wouldn't be such a threat!"

"Yes, well that may be true," Bella simpered, "but we still have to sort out who will be going to the Headmaster. Our parents will take no offense whatsoever as to what we've done, but yours', on the other hand, might be upset with the situation."

"We'll go," Lupin said proudly, "and tell-

"No, no, no," Bella interrupted, "who knows what kind of falsehoods you'll tell him."

"We can't very well let you go, Bellatrix," Pettigrew growled, "you'll make it out to be James' fault!"

"How about," I suggested, "Bella and Lupin both go and tell their sides of the story since Potter isn't capable?"

Lupin was just about to start rambling that James wasn't capable because of Bellatrix when Bella said, "Fine with me."

"Fine," Lupin grunted unsatisfiedly.

"Fine," Pettigrew and I recited after.

"When will we go?" Lupin asked as an afterthought.

"Why not right now?" Bella proposed.

"Right now?" Lupin asked uncertainly, surprised at her keenness.

"Yes, that's what I just said, Lupin," Bella snapped, "while it's still fresh in our minds."

"I don't think any of us will forget about that anytime soon," Pettigrew grumbled, "it's not everyday that your best friend gets hospitalized."

"Would everyone just stop griping?" I exclaimed, "If anyone should be irate, it should be me!" When no one responded, I said, "All I wanted to do was go study for my exams at the bloody library. If you two," I said, pointing at Lupin and Pettigrew, "would've controlled Potter, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"You can't just blame all of this on us," Lupin bellowed, "if your brainsick sister over there hadn't blasted James unconscious, you would've gone to the library, and we would've continued charming suits of armor until we got bored."

"Or caught," I corrected, "as rapidly as the rate of the noise was rising, I'd have given you another hour until someone, probably a professor or prefect, noticed."

"Right now," Bella intervened, "it doesn't matter anymore."

"I suppose you're right," Pettigrew bolstered.

"What now?" Lupin asked exasperatedly, throwing his hands above his head without effort.

"Now," Bella said, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, "we're going to the Headmaster to explain the 'situation'."

"I can walk myself, thank-you," Lupin said with finality in his tone, tearing her hands off of his clavicle bone. Without another word, the two of them charged off in the direction of the Headmaster's office, bickering back and forth all the while, leaving Pettigrew and me in a match of silence

"They make a sick kind of couple," Pettigrew laughed once the pair disappeared around the farthest corner.

I had to laugh because it was true- in a demented sort of way. "You are just lucky that they didn't hear you say that, Pettigrew," I said still laughing. I stopped when something ran through my mind- _What would happen to Bella once the Headmaster discovered the truth?_

A/N:

WOW! Another update! I thought I would never get this chapter written. I've been extremely busy lately with my end-of-the-year exams, and I just finished them.

One thing I've noticed that separates my fanfiction from similar fanfictions is the way the Purebloods talk. Try to keep in mind that most of my main characters are 11 and 12, but their language will become more civilized as they mature through the story, don't worry.

Another thing is I should probably mention is that my character's age is not really canon. Narcissa and Lucius' ages are right on, but Andromeda and Bellatrix's are my own deciding. Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed, but I was under pressure to update sooner!

That's all for now! Hopefully I'll get my next chapter up before I leave for vacation, but if not, I'll do my best once I get back.

~xxallisonxx~


	13. The worst is wanting the unreachable

I paced back and forth across the floor of the seventh year girl's dormitory.

"I can't believe you, Bella. I really can't believe you!" I told her, not even stopping my pacing, "How many times have I told you since I've been here at Hogwarts that under absolutely no circumstances should you let yourself be expelled? How many, Bella? Surely more than enough!"

Bella was sitting on her bed, sorting and folding the clothes from her drawer with her wand so that they would fit into her trunk at the end of her bed. She didn't seem the least bit worried; in fact, she seemed almost relieved, proud.

_It was only an hour ago that Bella and Lupin had marched off to Headmaster Dippet's office. For Bella, that meant that she had confessed that she was the only one who had attacked Potter. The meeting was short; Bella only took a half hour and then left for Lupin to tell on behalf of Potter._

_As soon as Bella came back to the Common Room, she told a waiting Rodolphus and me what the headmaster had said. He'd given her an ultimatum: Apologize to Potter and his family in person or leave Hogwarts. Bella, being Bella, flat out refused to apologize for her actions against Potter and would not try to console his family with remorse in any way._

"Like I told Rod, I'm not expelled- I'm leaving. If I was going to be expelled, they would've gotten the Ministry to snap my wand," she corrected, emphasizing her statement by again flicking her wand to pack away her things.

Bella tried arranging her clothes to sit perfectly symmetrical to where she would have enough room for all of her other things. After many fruitless attempts, she gave up, letting the clothes drop where they were and said, exasperated, "Oh well. I never was any good at any household spells."

"I know; Andy's superb at them, though," I replied, moving over to her trunk and manually fixing them to Bella's liking. I looked back up at Bella once I was done, only to find her face darkened, eyes now slits.

"Fine, fine," I said, "act like a baby, then. I won't say her name!"

"I wasn't being a baby!" she scowled, "mother said in her letter that we were supposed to go about our lives like she doesn't exist; I'm simply following the rules."

"Since when do you follow anyone's rules beside your own?" I asked with a snort of laughter.

"That's not the point!" she said lamely.

"Then what _is _the- " I said before Bella cut me off.

"Right now I'm trying to pack. You said you wanted to talk with me, or did you just want to _lecture _me?" she snapped.

"Yes," I replied, now irritated, "Why didn't you just apologize?"

Bella gave a cackle of laughter and said matter-of-factly, "To apologize would mean that I would have to be sorry for what I did to the Potter kid, but I'm not; therefore, I cannot and will not apologize to him or his blood-traitor family."

"Also," she continued, "What example would I be setting for my child if I showed remorse for such a hopeless cause of a person?"

"She's a fetus, Bella," I replied, "I'm pretty sure she won't care. She has no worries with anybody and spends her days just trying to bother you; I feel like my spot has been taken."

"Now," I said when she only replied with a laugh, "what about that one little girl you wanted me to get to befriend Potter and his friends or whatever your plans were; I did it, and it wasn't easy at all."

"You can continue the plan without me. You'll have Malfoy, Wilhelmina, and Evan's little brother to help you," Bella said, her eyes gleaming at the thought of her favorite little sister becoming a mini-Bellatrix.

"Yes, that's all good and thought out," I said sarcastically, "but what if _Lucius_, Mina, and _Aaron _don't want anything to do with it?"

"I know for a fact that Malfoy would help you, as would, who was it, Aaron? I'm sure Wilhelmina would help you if you asked," she said indignantly.

"Well what if I don't want to continue with your plan?" I asked.

She shrugged her shoulders and started putting her books, most of which were untouched and unopened, on top of her clothes.

"Do what you wish," she finally said, "This was my last year, anyway."

"Which is why I think you should just go apologize, Bella! ," I said, now infuriated at her lack of common sense and decency, "At least take your exams and finish your education."

"Why bother?" she huffed as she attempted to close the lid on her now too full trunk. After a few more tries, she slumped back against the trunk and said in an almost feeble voice, "Help."

I crossed back over the room and sat on top of the trunk and waited while she attempted to shut the lid of the trunk again. After another two failed tries, Bella climbed onto the trunk herself. With the combined weight of both of us, it snapped with a satisfying _click_.

While still on the trunk, Bella turned to me and, to my surprise, hugged me without an explanatory word.

When she released me, she just jumped off and headed for the door leading back to the Common Room.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, regardless of whether or not I knew what I could or would say, Bella said, "I'll see you in a month." and shut the door.

Before I heard her go down the stairs, I shouted/laughed back, "Take care of your fetus!"

Still perched on her trunk, I listened to her dying footsteps and laughter on the staircase, falling back onto her bed and closing my eyes, trying to imagine how she could have let this happen and why she was too bloody proud to apologize to the Potter kid.

Later that night at dinner, there was an odd feeling of emptiness hanging over us with Bella gone. The seat beside Rodolphus was unusually empty.

Rodolphus was extremely irate and aggressive about the fact that Bella was now gone. Every time an unfortunate first or second year ever attempted to scoot their way down and claim her seat, he'd snap at them and order them down at least three seats away from Bella's.

Every time this would happen, Wilhelmina would try to console the cowering group, seeing as those were the people who used to stand up to Potter's group when they used to torment her.

Finally, once another Slytherin was banned from Bella's empty seat, Evan said, "Lestrange, stop it. You're scaring off all the first years."

Rodolphus didn't say anything, but instead kept stabbing at the leftover food on his plate.

Evan gave me a help-me-out-here look once Rodolphus had completely stabbed through the plate due to his forcefulness.

Flicking a few peas off of my plate, I gave a discreet cough and said tentatively, "She had a choice, Rod."

Rodolphus let his fork clatter to his plate and said, "No she didn't!"

Evan took this as another stepping in point and said, "She did have a choice, she just decided- "

"No," Rodolphus cut him off ferociously, "Dippet knew that Bella would never apologize for what she did. He knew she would be too proud. He might as well have driven her out of the castle himself. No, Bella didn't have a choice," he finished softly, picking his fork back up, resuming his food puncturing.

There was a silence as he said this. It hadn't occurred to any of them that Bella leaving would've affected Rodolphus, Bella's fiancé, the most brutally.

"She didn't seem too upset about leaving, mate," Evan said once Rodolphus was finished ranting."

I jabbed Evan in the ribs with my elbow once he said this. Did he have no feelings? Couldn't he see how crestfallen his words had made Rodolphus?

I motioned for him to look at Rodolphus: he'd averted his eyes to his plate and stopped abusing his food, now instead simply pushing it around.

Evan gave an apologetic look and said, "I didn't mean it like that, Rodolphus."

"No, no. You're right; she wasn't too upset, was she? She seemed quite excited at the prospect, actually," he replied gloomily.

"How could you say that?" Lucius said from beside me, "She loves you, doesn't she?"

"Exactly," I said before Rodolphus could get another word in, "Now let's get back to the Common Room; it's getting late, and I'm tired."

The walk back was quiet and strained with Rodolphus in tow. We descended into the dungeons and entered the Common Room, assuming our places in front of the fire.

As we were seated, I looked over at Rodolphus, who looked rather lonely sitting by himself on the couch. I could only hope that another first year didn't try to sit by him, but by the looks he was receiving across the room from the first years themselves, it seemed very unlikely that they would try it.

I looked back over at the fire as it curled and whipped around in its usual green flicker. It was a comforting feeling to look at it. The magic cast on it to keep aflame took over the fire's usual smell of burning wood, all for the better; now it smelled of a sweet mixture between amber and lilies, hazing my mind with the heat.

A grunting noise from the couch made me look away: Rodolphus sat rigid, still crestfallen.

"What?" I asked him, moving cautiously to his side, taking Bella's spot. Lucky for me, he didn't swat me away.

"Did Bella love me?" he asked hopefully, looking me dead in the eye.

"Of course," I assured him, "She's your fiancé, isn't she?"

"Just because she's marrying me doesn't mean she loves me," he said bitterly, "Just look at my mum and dad: they hate each other, look at Violet Parkinson- don't laugh- do you think she's looking for someone to love? No, she's looking for someone with a huge Gringott's vault. Marriage is nothing but paperwork and signatures."

"Now you know that isn't true!" I said, recovering from my laughter, "Bella loves you very much."

"Then why did she leave me, then?" he asked bemused and frustrated, "Why'd she so gladly leave?"

"Because she's Bella," I laughed, "And you know her well enough that she feels she left on good terms: hospitalizing Potter."

"Still," he tried to argue, still not convinced.

When he couldn't think of a fault in my argument, I said, "It's only a month - four weeks - thirty days- that's it. I'll think you'll live."

"Not comfortably," he grumbled under his breath.

"Rod," I chastised, "Go to bed; you need some sleep."

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"It's what Bella would say," I replied with a squeeze of his hand, "Now go, you grouch."

With that, he left and ascended the stairs. I strained my ears for a click of a door, and once I heard it, I finally relaxed.

_A/N:_

_Alright, my little pretties, what did you think of it? There is a reason it is so short, or else you know that I wouldn't dream of writing you a weak chapter. I'm using a tool called foreshadowing. I propose a contest- see who can guess what happens next. Winner gets a brownie point!_

_As always, stay lovely._

_xxallisonxx_


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